false economynoun [ C usually singular ]
uk/ˌfɒls ɪˈkɒn.ə.mi/us/ˌfɑːls ɪˈkɑː.nə.mi/an action that saves money at the beginning but, over a longer period of time, results in more money being wasted than being saved:
Buying cheap household appliances is a false economy - they're twice as likely to break down.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Budgeting money
- a penny saved is a penny earned idiom
- cut
- cut back
- defund
- draw/pull in your horns idiom
- economy drive
- economy-size
- horn
- in/out of pocket idiom
- manage
- means testing
- on a shoestring idiom
- penny
- price-conscious
- put/lay sth on/to one side idiom
- save on sth
- set sth against sth
- skimp
- square
- tighten your belt idiom
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