Quote Originally Posted by Hanna View Post
What is going on with this word? Why is one dictionary ignoring "afford" and the other giving it as the only possible translation?

How would you normally say "I can't afford to....... " or "Can you afford that? etc?
I don't know why these dictionaries ignore this meaning, but "позволять" = "to afford" is rather common.
I'd translate the phrases above as "Я не могу себе позволить..." and "Вы можете себе это позволить?"