Having little money, they manage to keep afloat! (6)
I believe the answer is:
tramps
'manage to keep afloat' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'having little money they' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'money' could be 'p' and 'p' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'trams' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tramps that I've seen before include "Walks heavily and firmly" , "Vagrants or hoboes" , "Stumps" , "Become hard or solid" , "Homeless people" .)