pay for (something) out of (one's) own pocket

Paying for something "out of your own pocket" means that you pay for it yourself, rather than having it paid for by someone else. You especially use "out of ___ own pocket" when:

  • someone pays for something that should have been payed for by someone else (like in the example above)
  • someone pays for something that's really expensive and hard to afford. For example:

No, I financed the entire company out of my own pocket.

A few notes: people can only pay out of their own pocket. It doesn't make sense to talk about paying out of someone else's pocket. And it's always singular "pocket", not "pockets".

This phrase appears in these lessons: