pay one's own freight

pay one's own freight

English

Verb

pay one's own freight

1. (colloquial, dated) To pay for oneself, not relying on the generosity of others.
   • 1932, Delta Sigma Delta-Desmos (volume 38, page 151)

     If any of you want a whacking lot of experience, lots of thrills to the minute and can pay your own freight, sign up for that trip to the land of the Northern Lights.

   • 1997, Jeff Coplon, My Story (page 162)

     I missed a real job's stimulation and rested uneasy in depending upon the Royal Family. (A sound presentiment, there.) I had been on my own since the age of eighteen, and I liked how it felt to pay my own freight.

   • 2013, Cherry Adair, Relentless

     “I have absolutely no interest in being a wealthy dilettante. I have a job. I pay my own freight. […]