pay one's way

pay one's way (third-person singular simple present pays one's way, present participle paying one's way, simple past and past participle paid one's way)

1. Of an individual or business, to earn enough to cover one's expenses.
   • 1952 May, James I. C. Boyd, “The Ballycastle Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 342:

     The train service averaged four trains each way on weekdays, and a single Sunday train in each direction, but though the line continued to pay its way until the first world war, immediately afterwards receipts dropped to such an extent that on February 8, 1924, a meeting was called to consider closing the line.

   • 1962 December, “Dr. Beeching previews the plan for British Railways”, in Modern Railways, page 376:

     Only a year ago it would have needed a "super-Micawber" to be optimistic that the railways would once again pay their way. But it was no longer a pipe dream that B.R. could make a profit, the way to do it was now clear.

• “pay one's way”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.