Living (from) hand to mouth: To be very poor, having only enough money to provide food and shelter each month 處境窮困，收入只夠負擔吃住

Example: My dad earned very little and there were 4 kids, so we lived hand to mouth.

(BBC, 10/12, 2017)

Tonight 120,000 children in England will spend the night in temporary accommodation. This week the government pledged to “fix the broken housing market” and invest an extra £2bn in affordable housing. (……)

“They changed the universal credit payment cycle and I got into debt. I tried to pay it off but I’m living hand-to-mouth. I work overtime just to be able to feed my kids. We don’t have any luxuries. I get paid and the money goes out the same day.”

英國有十二萬名兒童今晚會睡在臨時住處。英國政府這星期矢言要解決房市的缺失，投資二十億英鎊(811億台幣)在建設國宅上面。[他們改變了信用卡付款循環，結果我開始負債。我想把它付清，但賺的錢僅夠糊口，還得加班才有辦法餵飽孩子。我們沒有任何奢侈物，錢當天賺的當天就用掉了。]

(New York Times, 10/05, 2017)

The idea for “The Florida Project” came about five years ago, inspired by news stories about families — the “hidden homeless” — living hand-to-mouth in cheap motels after losing jobs and homes in the Great Recession. Mr. Baker and his writing and production partner, Chris Bergoch, homed in on tourist lodgings that had become quasi-welfare motels in central Florida.

美國新銳導演西恩貝克的新片[歡迎光臨奇幻城堡]，靈感來自五年前的新聞報導，報導內容是講2008年金融危機中失去工作和住處的隱藏性遊民家庭，他們住在佛羅里達州中部，本來是給遊客使用的廉價汽車旅館裡，生活勉強糊口。貝克和他的製片夥伴克里斯柏克齊，就聚焦於這些變身半個福利收容所的汽車旅館，和生活其中的一對母女。

Photos: Independent, maideinhollywood

Sound (中文解釋): ICRT podcast