Feel the pinch这个短语一般都用来形容财政困难，手头拮据等状况，作此解释也是源于pinch这个词有“困境、困苦”等意思。
If someone is short of money or feeling restricted in some other way, they are feeling the pinch.
eg：
Shopkeepers are beginning to feel the pinch because no one has a lot of money to spend these days.
店主们开始感到处境困难了，因为近来大家都没什么钱买东西