Applying a meat ax to those few fixed cost-of-living items would only cost us to fix up the house at a later date.

对这几样生活费用项目进行砍削，只会使我们日后修缮屋子时花更多的钱。

youdao

Despite the despairing rhetoric of Republican hardliners, the sequester is but a scalpel when a meat-ax is required.

FORBES: Republicans Mislead Their Base With Handwringing Over Sequester Defense Cuts