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Unit 8 · Topic 01 · Money and Time

Money Word Problems and Simple Bills

Hook

Anaya ran the class store for the day: pencils ₹8, erasers ₹5, sharpeners ₹12.

Kabir bought two pencils, one eraser, and handed over a ₹50 note.

The whole till depended on Anaya doing three sums in the right order, correctly.

The Story

For Maths Week, Ms. Rao set up a pretend classroom shop. Anaya was the shopkeeper. Prices: pencil ₹8, eraser ₹5, sharpener ₹12, notebook ₹35.

Kabir walked up. "Two pencils and one eraser, please." He handed over a ₹50 note.

Anaya worked the bill step by step. First, the cost of each item: 2 pencils at ₹8 each is 2 × 8 = ₹16. One eraser is ₹5. "Now I add them together: 16 + 5 = ₹21. That's your total."

"And my change?" asked Kabir.

"You paid ₹50, the bill is ₹21. 50 minus 21 is ₹29 change." Anaya counted it out: one ₹20 note, one ₹5 note, two ₹2 coins — 20 + 5 + 2 + 2 = 29. "Checks out."

Ms. Rao then sent up a harder customer: Anaya herself needed to buy 3 notebooks and 4 sharpeners from a real shopkeeper role played by Ms. Rao, paying with a ₹200 note.

"Break it into parts," said Ms. Rao. "3 notebooks at ₹35 each — work that out first." Anaya multiplied: 3 × 35 = ₹105.

"4 sharpeners at ₹12 each?" 4 × 12 = ₹48.

"Now add the two parts together for the full bill." 105 + 48 = ₹153.

"And the change from ₹200?" 200 − 153 = ₹47.

"Every money word problem breaks into the same three moves," said Ms. Rao. "Find the cost of each kind of item — usually a multiplication. Add all those costs together for the total bill. Then, if there's a payment involved, subtract the bill from what was paid, to find the change. Skip a step, or do them out of order, and the answer comes out wrong even if your arithmetic is perfect."

Three steps to any bill1. Price × quantity, for each item2. Add all the item costs = total bill3. Amount paid − bill = change
Multiply per item, add for the total, subtract for the change.

So What Just Happened?

A money word problem almost always breaks into three steps: (1) multiply price × quantity for each kind of item, (2) add all those amounts together for the total bill, (3) subtract the bill from the amount paid to find the change.

Always work out cost-per-item-type BEFORE adding — adding raw prices without multiplying by quantity first gives a wrong total.

Change = amount paid − total bill. If the bill is more than what was paid, more money is owed, not change.

Rupees and paise work like whole numbers and decimals: ₹1 = 100 paise, so ₹8.50 means 8 rupees and 50 paise, added and subtracted the same way as any decimal.

Kabir's bill worked out2 pencils × ₹8 = ₹16. 1 eraser = ₹5.Total bill: 16 + 5 = ₹21Change from ₹50: 50 − 21 = ₹29
2 pencils + 1 eraser, paid with ₹50.

Remember This

  • Step 1: multiply price × quantity for each item.
  • Step 2: add all item costs for the total bill.
  • Step 3: subtract the bill from the amount paid, to find change.
  • ₹1 = 100 paise; treat rupees-and-paise like whole-numbers-and-decimals.
  • Never add raw prices without multiplying by quantity first.
Rupees and paise₹1 = 100 paise, so ₹8.50 = 8 rupees + 50 paise
₹1 = 100 paise, handled just like a decimal.

Try It Yourself

Make a pretend price list for 4 items, then work out the bill for buying 2 of one item and 3 of another.

Pay a pretend ₹100 note for something costing ₹67 and work out the change.

Word Bank

Bill
The total amount owed for items bought.
Change
The money returned when payment is more than the bill.
Quantity
How many of an item are being bought.
Paise
The smaller unit of Indian currency; 100 paise make 1 rupee.
Total
The sum of all individual item costs.

Questions

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