Proportion your expenses to what you have, not to what you expect.

The saying advises basing spending on money or material resources already available rather than on income, gains, or help that may arrive later. It urges financial restraint when future resources are uncertain.

It may also be applied cautiously to planning with other limited resources. The lesson is to make commitments from secure means rather than hopeful forecasts, since expectations can fail and advance commitments may create hardship or debt.

Use it as practical advice when someone is budgeting, considering a purchase, or making commitments based on an anticipated payment or opportunity. It can also warn against treating uncertain future resources as already in hand, especially in financial or material planning.