They couldn't afford to pay the bills.

他们付不起账。

《柯林斯英汉双解大词典》

He couldn't afford to pay such a price.

他出不起这样的价钱。

youdao

I had just moved house and couldn't afford to pay the bills.

我们当时才搬了家，根本付不起房钱。

youdao

in such a way that after the rates were raised, they likely couldn't afford to pay the mortgage anymore or they'd be under great stress in trying to do so.

这种“引逗利率，以至于到后来他们没有能力偿还贷款,或者为了还贷给生活造成巨大压力。

耶鲁公开课 - 金融市场课程节选

McClurg couldn't afford to pay a lawyer to draft contracts, so he tweaked a Learjet lease contract he had found on the Web.

FORBES: Life

And western drug companies see scant financial incentive in spending a fortune on seeking a vaccine when those who really need it couldn't afford to pay.

BBC: Sunday 23/01/2000 BBC 2 19.30hrs

His mother couldn't afford to pay college tuition, so he landed an engineering scholarship at West Virginia Institute of Technology, later receiving a master's degree from Princeton University.

FORBES: Trading Places