Possible Clues:

• ___ by (barely manage)
• ___ out a living (just get by)
• Apt rhyme for "squeak"
• Scratch out, as a living
• Just __ by: barely make it
• Barely make, as a living (with "out")
• __ out a meager existence
• __ out a living: just get by
• ___ out a profit
• ___ out (barely make do)