Making Change and Money Word Problems

When you buy things at a store, you often need to figure out how much money you will spend or how much money you should get back. We use addition, subtraction, and multiplication to solve these everyday money problems.

Calculating Change

When you pay with more money than an item costs, the cashier gives you money back. This is called your change. To find your change, subtract the price of the item from the amount you paid.

Example: You buy a toy that costs \6.75$and pay with a$$10.00$ bill. What is your change?

$10.00 - 6.75 = 3.25$

Your change is \3.25$.

(Hint: When subtracting money, always remember to line up the decimal points!)

Finding the Total Cost

If you are buying more than one of the same item, you can use multiplication or repeated addition to find the total cost.

Example: You want to buy 3 notebooks. Each notebook costs \2.50$. What is the total cost?

You can add: $2.50 + 2.50 + 2.50 = 7.50$

Or you can multiply: $2.50 \times 3 = 7.50$

The total cost is \7.50$.

Comparing Money Spent

Sometimes word problems ask you to compare who spent more money. First, find the total amount each person spent, and then compare the numbers.

Example: Who spent more: Amy, who bought two items for \3.25$and$$4.50$, or Ben, who spent exactly$$8.00$?

First, find Amy's total: $3.25 + 4.50 = 7.75$

Amy spent \7.75$. Ben spent$$8.00$.

Since \7.75 < $8.00$, Ben spent more money.