A: I am totally shocked at last month’s phone bills, which added up to a few hundred bucks!

B: These phone companies all make their profits by nickel-and-diming their customers with hidden charges and fees. You’d better be careful when they offer you new services.

Note: If someone nickel-and-dimes someone or something, they harm them by continually taking small amounts of money away from them, or by continually making small changes or requests. A nickel is a five-cent coin and a dime is a 10-cent coin. The claims aren’t huge but there are a lot of them and it all adds up. For example: You should buy a new car before this one nickel-and-dimes you to death. This sentence means “You should buy a new car before you need to pay for a lot of repairs on this one.”