Verb
pay for itself (third-person singular simple present pays for itself, present participle paying for itself, simple past and past participle paid for itself)
To produce or result in revenue which will cover its costs.
You said the war would pay for itself in fruit baskets. You said that our soldiers would march in the streets of Havana and people would shower them with bananas and cigars. That didn't happen. Would you like to look into the camera and apologize to the American people? Stephen Colbert
Just as infinite access to free music ultimately leads to no one making a living at music anymore, free journalism just doesn't pay for itself - particularly not when a search engine is serving all the ads. Douglas Rushkoff
As a fiscal conservative, I think that our government should pay for itself. Daniel Keys Moran
Coal research and development provides huge benefits for the nation, and pay for itself many times over through taxes flowing back to the Treasury from expanded economic activity. Tim Holden