NUMBERS, MONEY, BUSINESS and WORK

An arm and a leg

Very expensive or costly; a large amount of money.

Blue collar

Working in a manual labour job.

Bread-winner

Person that is the primary source of income for a family.

Bring home the bacon

Earn a living.

Buckle down

Working hard with determination and full attention.

Cash cow

Dependable source of income.

Costs an arm and a leg

When something is very expensive.

Cut corners

When something is done quickly, and typically badly, to save money.

Deliver the goods

Do what is expected or required.

Don't give up the day job

You are not very good at something; you could definitely not do it professionally.

Foot in the door

Small but good start with the possibility of a bright future.

Getting sacked (or axed, or fired)

To lose your job.

Golden handshake

Large sum of money given to someone when they retire from a company.

Grease someone's palm

Give someone money in order to persuade them to do something dishonest.

In the black

In profit.

In the red

In debt with your bank; to have a negative bank balance or to owe money to the bank.

Learn the ropes

Learn how to do a job or task properly.

Let me see the colour of your money

Prove that you can afford something.

Living beyond your means

Spending more than you can afford.

Living on the breadline

Having very little income.

Out of the red

No longer in debt.

Rags to riches

Becoming very rich whilst starting very poor.

Rat race

Exhausting and repetitive routine.

Red tape

Set of rules and/or regulations that slow or stop progress.

Sell ice to Eskimos

Persuade people to go against their best interests or to accept something unnecessary.

Sleeping (or silent) partner

Person who has put money into a business or venture but who is not involved in running it.

Slice of the pie

Share of something, such as money, profits, etc..

The big time

The top level of a profession.

Tricks of the trade

Clever or expert way of doing something.

Well-oiled machine

Unit of people or a group of things working well together.

White collar

Office worker.

White elephant

Expensive item that's costly to maintain and not particularly useful.

be scattered to the four winds (B2)

be dispersed across a wide area

back to square one (C1)

back to where one started

dressed (up) to the nines (C1)

wearing very smart or elegant clothes

knock someone for six (C1)

utterly surprise or overcome someone

never in a million years (C1)

not at any point, under no circumstances

at sixes and sevens (C2)

in a state of total confusion or disarray

at the eleventh hour (C2)

the last moment or almost too late

kill two birds with one stone (C2)

achieve two aims at once

second to none (C2)

better than all others of the same kind

be strapped for cash (B2)

having little or no money at the moment

cook the books (C1)

falsify financial records for a company

from rags to riches (C1)

from extreme poverty to great wealth

in the region of (C1)

close to some amount

make ends meet (C1)

earn just enough money to live on

money is the root of all evil (C1)

avarice gives rise to selfish actions

pay through the nose (C1)

pay much more than a fair price

be rolling in it (C2)

be extremely rich

go Dutch (C2)

share the cost of a meal in a restaurant

grease someone's palm (C2)

give money to, esp. as a bribe

come/go under the hammer (B2)

be put up for or sold at auction

buy in bulk (C1)

buy something in large amounts

do a roaring trade (C1)

sell a lot of goods very quickly

settle an account (C1)

pay or receive money owed

black market (C2)

illegal trading of goods

buy a pig in a poke (C2)

buy or pay for something without seeing it

drive a hard bargain (C2)

be uncompromising in making a deal

in mint condition (C2)

looking new and in perfect condition

the bottom drops/falls out of sth (C2)

people stop buying a particular product

under the counter (C2)

bought or sold secretly and illegally

get the axe (C1)

be fired or dismissed from a job

talk shop (C1)

talk about work-related things

work your fingers to the bone (C1)

work extremely hard, esp. for a long time

a dead-end job (C2)

a job with little to no opportunity for career

a golden handshake (C2)

a payment given to sb who retires early

a hive of activity (C2)

a location where things are very busy

burn the midnight oil (C2)

work or study late into the night

red tape (C2)

excessive bureaucracy

burn the candle at both ends (B2)

go to bed late and get up early

call it a day (B2)

stop doing sth, especially working

cost the earth (B2)

cost very much

live from hand to mouth (B2)

have hardly enough money to survive

money doesn't grow on trees (B2)

it's not easy to get money

on the house (B2)

free, without charge

sell/go like hot cakes (B2)

be sold rapidly and in large quantities

be snowed under (C1)

have too much work

be well-off (C1)

having a lot of money