食い繋ぐ

くいつなぐ【食い繋ぐ】

〔食糧･貯金を少しづつ使って長持ちさせる〕 eat [spend] as slowly as possible; stretch out; stay alive [survive] 《on nothing but…》; keep the wolf from the door; keep one's head above water; scrape together a living; 〔細々と生計を立てる〕 economize; scrimp and save.

●畑の野菜で食いつなぐ stay alive [survive] on (the) vegetables from the garden

・アルバイトでその日その日を食いつなぐ live from day to day [hand to mouth] on temporary jobs.

●これだけ食糧があれば 1 週間は食いつなげる. On these provisions, we can keep going for a week.

・失業してから半年間, 貯金と失業保険だけで食いつないだ. For six months after I lost my job, I barely scraped by on my savings and unemployment insurance.