beyond (one's) means

beyond (one's) means

Exceeding one's available finances. If you keep living beyond your means, you'll deplete your bank account before you know it. Unfortunately, I can't go on the trip anymore—it's just beyond my means these days.See also: beyond, mean

beyond one's means

more than one can afford. I'm sorry, but this house is beyond our means. Please show us a cheaper one. They feel that a Caribbean cruise is beyond their means.See also: beyond, mean

beyond one's means

Too costly for one, more than one can afford. For example, A second vacation this year is well beyond our means. The noun means here signifies "resources at one's disposal," a usage current since Shakespeare's time, as in Measure for Measure (2:2): "Let her have needful, but not lavish means." [Late 1800s] See also: beyond, mean