out at elbow

adjective2

1. •
   Of a coat, jumper, etc., worn through at the elbows; of clothes, shabby, in poor condition.

   • [T]he children [...] went about in shabby, out-at-elbow clothes, and much worn boots. — 1894
2. •
   In needy circumstances.

   • There was an old soldier who had been long in the wars—so long, that he was quite out-at-elbows, and did not know where to go to find a living. — 1890