Idiom	Literally	Meaning
costare un occhio della testa	to cost an eye from your head	to cost a fortune
essere al verde	to be at the green	to be broke
avere le mani bucate	to have holes in your hands	to spend like water
avere il braccino corto	to have a short little arm	to be tight-fisted
prendere due piccioni con una fava	to catch two pigeons with one bean	to kill two birds with one stone
piove sul bagnato	it's raining on the wet	it never rains but it pours

One story traces essere al verde to old candles whose bottom end was painted green: when the flame reached the green, there was nothing left. Someone con il braccino corto has an arm too short to reach their wallet — and the everyday word for them is tirchio.