Money word problems

Here you will learn about money word problems, including the values of the coins in our money system and solving a variety of money word problems.

Students will first learn about money word problems as part of measurement and data in 2nd grade and continue to build on this knowledge as they learn how to operate with decimals as a part of numbers and operations in base 10 in 5th grade.

What are money word problems?

Money word problems use US money in cents (¢) and dollars (\$).

To solve money word problems, you need to know the names and values of the coins and bills in our money system.

There are also bills for different dollar amounts. The first four bills are…

\$1.00 (one dollar)	\$5.00 (five dollar)
\$10.00 (ten dollar)	\$20.00 (twenty dollar)

For example,

Solving in cents \textbf{(¢)} :

Jesse has 4 pennies, 3 nickels and 2 dimes. How many cents does Jesse have in total?

4 pennies = 4¢

3 nickels = 15¢

2 dimes = 20¢

So Jesse has 39¢.

Solving in dollars \bf{(\$)} :

A pair of shoes costs \$22.45. Joe buys 3 pairs of them, how much will the 3 pairs cost?

= 66 wholes, 12 tenths, and 15 hundredths.

The 3 pairs cost \$67.35.

What are money word problems?

Common Core State Standards

How does this relate to 2nd grade math and 5th grade math?

• Grade 2 – Measurement and Data (2.MD.C.8)
  Solve word problems involving dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies, using \$ and ¢ symbols appropriately. Example: If you have 2 dimes and 3 pennies, how many cents do you have?

• Grade 5 – Numbers and Operations in Base 10 (5.NBT.B.7)
  Add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals to hundredths, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used.

How to solve money word problems

In order to solve money word problems in cents:

1. Recall the value of each coin.
2. Find the total for each type of coin.
3. Add all total coin values.
4. Write a sentence answering the money word problem question.

In order to solve money word problems in dollars:

1. Read the question carefully and decide which operation(s) to use.
2. Use what you know about decimals to solve.
3. Write a sentence answering the money word problem question.

Money word problems examples

Example 1: whole number word problem – adding coins

Mark has 12 pennies and 5 nickels. How many cents does he have?

1. Recall the value of each coin.

Each penny is 1¢. Each nickel is 5¢.

2Find the total for each type of coin.

12 pennies = 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 12¢

5 nickels = 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 25¢

3Add all total coin values.

4Write a sentence answering the money word problem question.

Mark has 37¢.

Example 2: whole number word problem – adding coins

A pencil costs 3 dimes and 2 quarters. How many cents does the fancy pencil cost?

Example 3: whole number word problem – subtracting coins

Kia has 3 quarters. A piece of gum costs 6 nickels. If Kia buys one piece of gum, how many cents will she have left?

Example 4: decimal word problem – one step addition

Hank buys a bottle of water for \$1.95 and a sandwich for \$4.56. How much did he pay in total?

Example 5: decimal word problem – one step division

Two boxes of markers cost \$8.28. If each box costs the same, how much does one box of markers cost?

Use what you know about decimals to solve.

8.28 \div 2=

One way to solve with decimals is by breaking up the decimal into each place value.

8.28 \div 2=(8+0.2+0.08) \div 2=

8 \div 2=4

0.2 \div 2=0.1

0.08 \div 2=0.04

Add the partial quotients:

4 + 0.1 + 0.04 = 4.14

Example 6: decimal word problem – one step multiplication

Sara is saving to buy a science kit. She saves \$11.25 each week. How much money will she have saved after 5 weeks?

Use what you know about decimals to solve.

11.25 \times 5=

One way to solve with decimals is by breaking up the decimal into friendly numbers.

11.25 \times 5=(11+0.25) \times 5=

11 \times 5=55

0.25 \times 5=1.25

Add the partial products:

55 + 1.25 = 56.25

Teaching tips for money word problems

• When first introducing 2nd graders to the money system, give them plenty of opportunities to use real life coins. This will help them memorize the value of each coin and also encourage solving by skip counting.

• Give 2nd graders experiences representing the same amount of money in different ways. For example, ask them, “How many different ways can you show 45 cents with coins?” This gives students practice memorizing the coin values and also encourages them to look for patterns.

• Solving money word problems can be difficult for students who have a lower reading comprehension. Provide visuals or phonics support to any student who may need it, so that their reading comprehension is not a barrier for this skill.

• Math worksheets, including money word problem worksheets, can be a good way for students to practice, but they should not be the only way that students learn this skill. Set up real-world scenarios in the classroom that involve solving with money, such as budgeting, to give students real life experiences connected to this skill.

• While you may introduce them separately, at some point it is necessary to combine practice with subtraction word problems and addition word problems so that students can practice figuring out which operation to use.

Easy mistakes to make

• Confusing the penny, dime and nickel coins
  Without much experience using the coins, it is easy for students to confuse the values based on the size of the coin. The penny has the smallest value, but the dime coin is smaller in size. The dime coin is also smaller than the nickel, though the dime has more value.
  For example, the first three coins from least to greatest value is (1¢, 5¢, 10¢) :
  
  

  

• Use two decimals places to record money in dollars
  Always use two decimal places when writing the final amount of money in dollars.
  For example, if your answer is 3.4, write it as \$3.40, using two decimal places to represent all the money positions.

• Subtracting from \bf{\$5, \$10} and so on
  Finding the change from whole dollars can be tricky because of the zeros involved. You may wish to use a number line instead and count on.
  For example, finding the change from \$10 for a \$3.72 shopping bill.
  
  

  

Related lessons on arithmetic

• Calculator skills
• Skip counting
• Number sense
• Inverse operations
• Two step word problems

The next lessons are

• Properties of equality
• Addition and subtraction
• Multiplication and division

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