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Adjective: hand-to-mouth  'hand-tu'mawth
  1. Providing only bare essentials
    "a hand-to-mouth existence"
Adverb: hand to mouth
  1. With barely enough money for immediate needs
    "they lived from hand to mouth"

See also: meager [N. Amer], meagerly [N. Amer], meagre [Brit, Cdn], meagrely [Brit, Cdn], scrimpy, stingy [informal]

Encyclopedia: Hand to mouth