What it means
مخارج (makhârej) comes from Arabic مَخَارِج, the plural of مَخْرَج (makhraj), from the root خ-ر-ج meaning “to exit” or “to go out.” In Persian it has settled firmly into financial territory to mean expenses, outgoings, or living costs, with an emphasis on the ongoing and plural nature of spending. Where هزینه (hazine) often refers to a specific cost, مخارج implies the full weight of recurring expenditure: rent, food, transport, utilities. In spoken Persian it often sounds more formal or weighty than the colloquial خرج (kharj).
How to use it
- مخارج خونه زیاده. (makhârej-e khune ziâde.) “Household expenses are high.”
- مخارجم از درآمدم بیشتره. (makhârejmam az darâmadam bištar-e.) “My expenses exceed my income.”
- مخارج سفر رو حساب کردی؟ (makhârej-e safar ro hesâb kardi?) “Have you calculated the travel expenses?”
- نمیتونم مخارجشو در بیارم. (nemitunam makhârejash-o dar biâram.) “I can’t cover its expenses.”
Cultural note
مخارج is a word with weight in Iranian family discourse. The phrase مخارج زندگی (makhârej-e zendegi, living expenses) appears in conversations about economic pressure, household budgets, and the difficulty of making ends meet. Because مخارج is plural by form, it naturally conveys the accumulation of many small outflows rather than a single payment. In formal financial or accounting contexts it appears alongside هزینه, with مخارج often used for operating expenditures and هزینه for individual line items.