1. Gary lost his job over a month ago and he has spent all his savings paying his bills. Now he doesn’t have any more money, and his back is to the wall
2. My back was to the wall It seemed like my only choices were to try to save the company with my personal savings or pull out and let the company go while I still had some money left.

Compare to: in a bind; in a fix; in a jam; behind the eight ball.