# How to say “I'm broke” in Chinese

> The mildest way to say “I'm broke” in Chinese is 手头紧 (shǒu tóu jǐn), “money's a bit tight”. The strongest is 吃土 (chī tǔ), “eating dirt”. Here are all 5, ranked mild to strong, with pinyin and when to use each one.

Source: https://lanlanchinese.com/how-to-say/broke-in-chinese (updated 2026-10-18)

1. **手头紧** (shǒu tóu jǐn) (strength 1/5): money's a bit tight. The polite way. You can still afford coffee.
2. **囊中羞涩** (náng zhōng xiū sè) (strength 2/5): my wallet is shy. An old idiom. Sounds fancy, means the same thing.
3. **月光族** (yuè guāng zú) (strength 3/5): the paycheck-is-gone-by-the-30th club. 月光 = moonlight, but here: the month's money, all gone.
4. **穷光蛋** (qióng guāng dàn) (strength 4/5): totally broke guy. Poor + bare + egg. Use it on yourself, not on others.
   Heard in a real video: 我，小琳，我是一个穷光蛋。 "Me, Xiaolin, I'm flat broke." (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MiAZ-5_WnU&t=56s)
5. **吃土** (chī tǔ) (strength 5/5): eating dirt. Spent it all online. Dinner is dirt now.

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