Expense example sentences

Related (12): cost, expenditure, spending, outlay, charge, fee, bill, budget, overhead, expensive, inexpensive, economical

"Expense" Example Sentences

The company tried to cut expense by switching to cheaper suppliers.
I need to track every expense for my tax return this year.
She submitted her expense report two weeks late and got flagged by accounting.
Honestly, the expense of living in the city is just getting ridiculous.
My biggest monthly expense is rent, no question about it.
The project went way over budget — the expense spiraled out of control.
He didn't want to burden his parents, so he paid the expense himself.
Can we talk about how much the expense has gone up since last quarter?
The expense account was supposed to cover meals, but not fancy restaurants.
She'd been saving for years to cover the expense of her daughter's wedding.
Why does every small expense feel like a financial crisis right now?
The expense of healthcare in America is absolutely insane.
I put the expense on my credit card and regretted it immediately.
Nobody wants to admit how much they spend, but expense is real.
The team learned to justify every expense with detailed receipts.
After the divorce, her biggest expense became childcare and rent.
It wasn't the expense itself that bothered him — it was the waste.
The government audited the expense claims and found several discrepancies.
She looked at the bill and winced at the total expense.
Expense management software helped the startup stay financially organized.
The unexpected expense threw off my entire monthly budget.
He'd rather skip meals than ask his wife about an expense.
The expense of therapy was worth every penny for her mental health.
They calculated the expense per person and split the bill evenly.
The company's biggest expense was always payroll, not equipment.
At great expense, they finally renovated the kitchen.
The expense of flying across the country made her hesitate about the trip.
She tracked every expense in a spreadsheet like her life depended on it.
The restaurant's expense for quality ingredients showed in every dish.
What's the total expense for the entire project, start to finish?
The expense of childcare meant she could barely afford to work part-time.
He approved the expense without even reading the justification.
The hidden expense of that contract didn't show up until later.
Expense cuts meant layoffs, and nobody wanted to be the one to announce it.
The wedding planner warned them that the expense would exceed their budget.
She felt guilty about every expense, even necessary ones.
The expense of maintaining the old house finally forced them to sell.
No expense was spared when it came to his daughter's education.
The company's expense policy was so strict that employees paid out of pocket.
At the end of the month, she reviewed every expense and felt exhausted.

Common Phrases

at great expense
no expense spared
expense account
expense report
cut expense
cover the expense
justify an expense
track expenses
unexpected expense
business expense
monthly expense
expense management

Examples by Level

The expense is very high.
My mother said the expense was too much money.
The expense of the trip surprised us.

Fixing the car was an unexpected expense that emptied my savings account.
She worried about the expense of moving to a new apartment.
The expense of childcare made it hard for him to work part-time.

Looking back, the expense seemed worth it — but at the time, I seriously questioned the decision.
There's something frustrating about discovering a hidden expense after you've already paid.
He cut back on everything to cover the medical expense, never complaining once.

The company justified the expense by pointing to long-term efficiency gains, though employees remained skeptical.
She'd been saving for years, only to have one unexpected expense derail the entire plan.
What started as a minor home repair quickly spiraled into a five-figure expense that nobody anticipated.

The true cost of convenience often lies in the hidden expense we don't immediately recognize — time, attention, or autonomy.
He approached the expense with the pragmatism of someone who'd learned that some investments simply cannot be avoided.
The expense of maintaining appearances had worn her down in ways that money alone could never fully compensate for.

There's a peculiar kind of resignation that settles in when you realize a necessary expense has become permanent — not dramatic, just the quiet acceptance of a new baseline.
She'd long since stopped calculating the emotional expense of loyalty to people who didn't reciprocate it.
The expense of honesty, he'd discovered, was often steeper than the cost of a comfortable lie — but infinitely more bearable in the end.

Examples by Scenario

🏠 Everyday Life

The expense of fixing the washing machine came right when I'd finally paid off my credit card.
My kid asked why the expense of groceries keeps going up — honestly, I didn't have a good answer.
The expense of replacing the roof is going to hurt, but at least it won't leak on my bed anymore.

💼 Workplace

My manager approved the software expense without even blinking — apparently it's been costing us way more in lost productivity.
Someone submitted an expense report for a client lunch that was clearly just their personal dinner.
The expense of hiring a new team member is high upfront, but we're drowning without the extra hands.

📊 Business

The expense of switching suppliers seemed risky until we realized we were saving thirty percent annually.
Our marketing expense doubled this quarter, but the ROI finally justifies it.
Reducing operational expense without cutting quality is the challenge every CFO faces.

🛒 Buying / Shopping

I can't justify the expense of the premium version when the basic one does the same thing.
The expense of organic groceries is brutal, but I've stopped feeling guilty about it.
Is the expense of that warranty actually worth it, or am I just being paranoid?

✈️ Travel

The expense of flying during peak season is insane — we're going in September instead.
Traveling with kids means every meal is an unexpected expense that blows the budget.
The hotel's hidden expense fees didn't show up until checkout — classic.

📚 Education

The expense of college tuition has made my parents' retirement plans feel impossible.
My daughter's school is asking for another expense contribution for the field trip fund.
The expense of tutoring helped him finally understand calculus, but it shouldn't have to be that way.

❤️ Relationships

We broke up partly because we couldn't agree on the expense of living together in the city.
He never once made me feel guilty about the expense of my therapy, even when money was tight.
The emotional expense of keeping that friendship alive finally became too much.

📰 News / Politics

The government's expense report for the conference raised serious questions about accountability.
Critics argue the military expense has spiraled out of control while schools are underfunded.
The scandal centered on a politician's personal expense being covered by campaign funds.

💻 Technology

The expense of upgrading to the latest phone every year is something I finally decided to stop doing.
Cloud storage seems cheap until you calculate the cumulative expense over five years.
The expense of cybersecurity tools is worth every penny if it prevents one data breach.

📝 Formal Writing

The study examined the relationship between household expense allocation and long-term financial stability.
Operating expense reductions of fifteen percent were achieved through process optimization and vendor consolidation.
The expense associated with regulatory compliance has increased substantially across the financial services sector.