Can the words "With Less" mean "with less money" without adding the word "money"?

Question

I am trying to write an ebook about the things you can make yourself with less resources and money. The title with be something like "Build it yourself with less". My question is: Do I have to add the word "money" at the end of the title to let people know that I mean "with less money". The reason I am asking this is that I don't like having the word "money" on my title. Thanks. **UPDATE** Does "Make it yourself for little" give better meaning than "Make it yourself with less" that I mean money?

Answer 1

Ending a sentence or phrase with "with less" but without stating the object is a common way to simplify the idea in English. In fact, according to Google Ngrams, it is more common in publications to end a sentence with "with less" than to use "with less money." You will also find it used in spoken speech on TV shows. For example, "I'm sure a lot of great people have started with less" (Simpsons, 2004, found on https://www.english-corpora.org/tv/).

As far as using "less" versus "little," less is the right choice. It this situation, you are comparing the amount of money they would need to spend doing your suggested method to the amount they would otherwise spend if they weren't following your method. Since "less" is the comparative form; therefore, less is the correct choice.

Answer 2

In my opinion, I think the word you should use is "for". The title would say "Build it yourself for less". I have read book titles about planning events that also talk about money saving and the title reads "for less". I hope this helps.