Expressions that I never used before

The best way for immerse in a culture is using expressions, however, most of the time these expressions are very difficult for me because you have to memorize the meaning and use it. I know that the only way for improve a knack is practicing, but is hard... English has expressions for everything (of course), but in this time, we learned about financial, which is very important because as an adult, all the time, you are in touch with something about money. For example, I learned that when you don't have money and you can't catch up your friends, you can say "strapped for cash" and also, you can use "to make ends meet", for example: "Sorry my friend, my salary is to make ends meet, I can't go to the journey". In case of any of your friends have a financial problem, you can recommend him or her that "you need to curb your spending"... English is crazy, isn't it?