随着生活成本上涨，许多家庭不得不勒紧裤腰带。

With the rise in living costs, many families have had to ___tighten ___their ___belts.

为了给新的基础设施项目筹资，纳税人被要求节衣缩食。

To fund the new infrastructure, taxpayers were asked to ___tighten ___their ___belts.

随着利润下降，公司警告员工要削减开支。

The company warned employees to ___tighten ___their ___belts as profits declined.