The term 'very small amount of money' can be described by three words: pittance (8 letters), sou (3 letters), and SHOESTRING (10 letters). A pittance is a very small or inadequate amount of money, usually given as charity. The word sou is derived from the French word for penny, and it is used to refer to a very small amount of money. Lastly, a SHOESTRING is an idiom that refers to a very tight budget, implying that one has only a small amount of money to spend.