16 Money Word Problems with Solutions and Answers (By Grade)
By: Author Amanda L. Grossman
Posted on Last updated: January 9, 2024
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Develop students’ money life skills plus work on math concepts with real-life money word problems with solutions and answers.
Bell ringers, math centers, classroom money pickles, daily warm-ups…you can sneak these money word problems with solutions and answers into your student’s day in lots of different ways.
Or, make them the highlight of your 30-minute personal finance session – use whatever time you’ve got.
The exciting thing about using money word problems and consumer math worksheets is you’re giving your students the chance to practice both math AND money life skills they’ll be able to use out in the wilds of the “real world” (like in the produce section of the super market).
Awesome! Let’s dig in.
Money Word Problems with Solutions and Answers
Money word problems can begin as early as 2 nd grade with simple addition and subtraction.
And they get increasingly more complex – two steps, then multiple steps, and more complex thinking – as students go through middle school and then high school.
We’ll start with the easier money word problems, and move into more complex ones, by grade.
Psst: do your students need a refresher on counting money or identifying coins? Here are free 2 nd grade money worksheets , 14 money counting games , and a bunch of free consumer math worksheets .
Money Word Problems Grade 3
While there’s no mention of money for Grade 3 Common Core Standards , you can relate several of the math standards to money word problems.
Teaching students math AND money life skills at the same time? #winning.
For example:
- Number and Operations in Base Ten (CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.NBT.A.2) : Fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.
- Operations and Algebraic Thinking (CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.D.8) : Solve two-step word problems using the four operations. Represent these problems using equations with a letter standing for the unknown quantity. Assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies including rounding.
Here are some worksheets with money word problems to help your students practice these concepts.
1. Money Task Cards + Scavenger Hunt
This free set of money task cards each has mostly one-step money word problems on them.
You can cut them out, and do a scavenger hunt around the room to get students up and moving. OR, she has lots of other ideas for how to use them. There’s also a worksheet asking students to come up with their own money word problem using specific amounts.
Very helpful!
2. Money Shopping Word Problems
Scroll down on this page, and you’ll find a nice collection of shopping money word problem worksheets for free.
Students will work through:
- Adding up the cost of ordered items from a menu
- Calculating their change after an order
- Calculating sales tax
They’ve also got some good free worksheets on Wage word problems, simple and compound interest calculation word problems, etc.
Hint: there’s worksheets in here for older grades, too.
Two-Step Money Word Problems for 3 rd Graders
You likely saw above that third graders are supposed to be doing two-step word problems.
Two-step money word problems require two calculations to complete them. They’re not entirely straightforward – your students will need to think things through a bit more before they can come up with the correct answer.
3. Money Within $100 Word Problems
Get your set of 5 free, two-step money word problems within $100. Each word problem has space to draw and work through the problem.
4. Simple Two-Step Money Word Problems
Here’s a three-page set of two-step money word problems that have students add up the total amount of spending, then figure out how much change they should get back.
There are spaces for students to work out each of the two steps.
Hint: this is a free set of money word problems, but you’ll need a free Teachers Pay Teachers account to access it.
5. August Problem Solving Path Worksheets
I just love the real-world approach this packet of word problems takes.
She includes a math journal for each problem (there is one money word problem, and the rest are word problems involving other common core standards for 3 rd graders), and a rubric on the math journal sheet so that you can easily grade based on your student’s work.
There’s both a US and a UK version.
6. Two Simple Two-Step Money Word Problems
And here’s another set of two-step money word problems for 2 nd -4 th graders. Again, kids are asked to add up the total cost of items purchased, then calculate how much change they would get back.
7. Can I Buy It? Word Problems
If you’re looking for an easier set of two-step word problems for your bunch of students, then you should check these out.
8. Mix of One-Step and Two-Step Money Word Problems
Here’s a simple worksheet that has a mix of both two-step and one-step money word problems for 3 rd graders. The theme is around ordering food items.
Money Word Problems with Solutions and Answers Grade 5
There are no Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) specifically for money math at the 5th grade level.
However, you can relate the math concepts in the CCSSM to real-life money scenarios with these money word problems.
- Number and Operations in Base Ten (CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.NBT.B.5 – B.7) : Students should be able to perform operations with multi-digit whole numbers and decimals to the hundredths (which is an essential skill when working with money).
- Operations and Algebraic Thinking (CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.OA.A.2) : Students should be able to understand and write expressions and equations and solve real-world and mathematical problems using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
1. Bertie’s Big Win
Students are tasked with figuring out how much money Bertie won through the lottery, based on the fractional amounts he spent on various things (like a house, a trip to space, a luxury yacht, etc.).
Answer sheet is included, which is good – because this is a tough one!
Hint: they say on the website that the 4 th grade versions of his money word problems are a bit easier than the 5 th grade ones, so you might want to try those if this seems too hard for your class.
2. YMI’s Healthy Meal, Healthy Budget Worksheets
Grab your free teaching kit (for grades 3-5, then 6-8) that pairs healthy eating lessons with 5 money math word problems you’d find in the real world.
For example, the first word problem asks students to plan a meal for two people using chicken tenders as the base. They’re given the serving size for each person, then two different options to buy and asked to calculate which is the best money (by calculating the per-unit cost and then comparing that with what they get).
Answers and explanations are provided.
3. Mixed Practice Money Word Problems
Students are given three paragraphs describing a real-life scenario that is going to cost money. Then, students are asked a series of questions below it, and will need to use multiple kinds of calculations to solve them (subtraction, addition, multiplication, etc.).
4. Value Your Power Word Problems
Here’s a set of money math worksheets tied to electricity use in the household.
In the first activity, students are asked to decipher an electricity bill. They’ll chart the kilowatts used each month of the year, and then work through a series of questions based on that information (such as calculating an average monthly cost).
There’s also a Value Your Power Scoreboard worksheet students can take home as a family challenge.
Hint: it says it’s for 4 th grade – but I suspect these would be great for some 5 th grade students anyway.
5. Thanksgiving Dinner PBL
This project for grades 3-5 starts with the following driving question:
“ I need to feed my family of six for Thanksgiving. For my meal I need an appetizer, main dish, two side dishes, a dessert, and a drink (at least). I have $175 to spend on all the ingredients and any decorations I may want. What should I make?”
Students are tasked with creating a meal plan, recipes, and a grocery list with prices.
Hint: you’ll need a free account on ShareMyLesson.com to download this free lesson plan and rubric.
Advanced Money Word Problems for Older Students
Got a group of high schoolers, or advanced middle schoolers to find money word problems for? These multi-step money word problems and money-thinkers might be just the thing.
Money Word Problem #1: Ad Sale Decode
Money Lesson : Ads aren't always truthful, or as good of a deal as they first seem.
Norgay Sherpa, a mighty Everest climber who has personally climbed to the top of Everest three times (called summitting), saw a television commercial for a pair of Black Diamond Trail Pro Shock Trekking Poles. They have non-slip grips + are collapsible (something that would be very helpful on future climbs).
He wants to purchase them, but is confused about how much his total cost will be. Here are the details for a pair of trekking poles:
- Two easy payments of $127.05
- $9.95 Shipping & Handling
- Get one extra pair free (an incredible deal!), just pay Shipping & Handling (S&H)
What is Sherpa Norgay's total cost going to be?
Answer : $274. How you get there is adding the two “easy payments” of $127.05 + $127.05 + $9.95 S&H + $9.95 S&H (for the second “free” pair).
Money Word Problem #2: Car Insurance Snafu
Money Lesson : How auto insurance works.
One of your expedition partners, Sandy, is facing a money dilemma. She called her husband over Base Camp's satellite phone and found out he was in a car accident. Don't worry, he's okay! But their family car looks like it was in an Avalanche.
Here are the details:
- The accident was her husband's fault, meaning he hit the other car.
- Her family has a liability auto insurance policy that insures both of their vehicles.
- They pay a monthly premium of $96/month.
- They took the vehicle to a repair shop, and the quote to repair their car is $875.
- They have an auto insurance deductible of $500.
How much is this car repair going to cost Sandy and her family out of their own pocket?
Answer : $875. They don't have comprehensive car insurance, and Liability Only insurance means costs to repair the other person's car will be paid, but not their own car. So, they're left to pay the full $875.
Money Word Problem #3: Foreign Currency Mix Up
Money Lesson : How to figure out the value of a US Dollar against one of the other 168 currencies in the world.
Mingma Sherpa has been an outstanding partner for your expedition team. He's done all of his duties to help you on Everest − such as setting up your tents and cooking some of your meals − and was paid 360,908.33 Nepalese Rupees for doing so.
It is common courtesy to tip your Sherpa, especially when they've done a great job. If you were to tip Mingma 51,593.24 Nepalese Rupees, how many US Dollars would that be?
Assume that 1 US dollar = 103.186 Nepalese Rupees.
Answer : $500 US Dollars. That's 51,593.24/103.186.
I hope you've found some helpful money word problems with solutions and answers. I think these can open up some fun and helpful discussions with and between students that will help them manage their money as adults.
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Money Master
How good are your money handling skills? How fast can you give change?
Instructions: Drag the money onto or off the surface.
New Version 1.44: Difficulty Levels.
It is important to be able to handle money!
- You need to be able to give people the correct amount when you buy something
- You also need to check that you get the right change
- You should also be able to give the correct change when you sell something
And being able to do this fast and accurately makes you look smart and efficient.
You may be good at handling your own currency, but what if you go on holidays? Get practice with any of these major currencies :
- Australian Dollars
- Bangladeshi Taka
- British Pounds
- Canadian Dollars
- Chinese Yuan
- Egyptian Pound
- Hong Kong Dollars
- Indian Rupee
- Israeli Shekel
- Japanese Yen
- Lebanese Pound
- Malaysian Ringgit
- Mexican Peso
- New Zealand Dollars
- Nigerian Naira
- Pakistani Rupees
- Philippine Peso
- Russian Rouble
- Singapore Dollars
- South African Rand
(Note: if we don't have your currency, and you have some nice images of your coins and bank notes, then contact me and I will see about adding them.)
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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…
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.
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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:
Recall the value of each coin.
Find the total for each type of coin.
Add all total coin values.
Write a sentence answering the money word problem question.
In order to solve money word problems in dollars:
Read the question carefully and decide which operation(s) to use.
Use what you know about decimals to solve.
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?
Each penny is 1¢. Each nickel is 5¢.
2 Find 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¢
3 Add all total coin values.
4 Write 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?
Each dime is 10¢. Each quarter is 25¢.
3 dimes = 10 + 10 + 10 = 30¢
2 quarters = 25 + 25 = 50¢
A fancy pencil costs 80¢.
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?
Each nickel is 5¢. Each quarter is 25¢.
6 nickels = 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 30¢
3 quarters = 25 + 25 + 25 = 75¢
Kia will have 45¢ after buying one piece of gum.
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?
You need to add to find the total of the water and the sandwich together.
One way to solve with decimals is to use what you know about fraction addition.
1.95=1 \cfrac{95}{100} \quad and \quad 4.56=4 \cfrac{56}{100}
\begin{aligned} & 1 \cfrac{95}{100}+4 \cfrac{56}{100} \\\\ & = 5+\cfrac{151}{100} \\\\ & = 5+\cfrac{100}{100}+\cfrac{51}{100} \\\\ & = 5+1+\cfrac{51}{100} \\\\ & = 6 \cfrac{51}{100} \\\\ & = 6.51 \end{aligned}
Hank paid \$6.51 for the bottle of water and sandwich.
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?
You need to take the total cost and divide it between the two boxes.
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=
0.2 \div 2=0.1
0.08 \div 2=0.04
Add the partial quotients:
4 + 0.1 + 0.04 = 4.14
Each box of markers cost \$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?
You need to multiply since she saved the same amount each week.
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
Add the partial products:
55 + 1.25 = 56.25
After 5 weeks, Sara will have saved \$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
- 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.
Related lessons on arithmetic
- Calculator skills
- Skip counting
- Number sense
- Inverse operations
- Two step word problems
Practice money word problems questions
1. There are 3 dimes, 6 pennies and 4 nickels. How many cents are there?
Each penny is 1¢. Each nickel is 5¢. Each dime is 10¢.
6 pennies = 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 6¢
4 nickels = 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 20¢
There is 56¢.
2. A bag of chips costs 75¢. Mark has 3 quarters and 17 pennies. If he buys a bag of chips, how many cents will he have left?
Each penny is 1¢. Each nickel is 25¢.
17 pennies = 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 17¢
Subtract to find the cents he will have left.
Mark will have 17¢ left.
3. Maryam has 5 dimes and 3 pennies. Then she finds 2 nickels. How many cents does Maryam have now?
3 pennies = 1 + 1 + 1 = 3¢
2 nickels = 5 + 5 = 10¢
5 dimes = 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 50¢
Maryam now has 63¢.
4. Daniel buys a new pair of headphones for \$34.99. If he pays the cashier \$50, how much change will Daniel get back?
You need to subtract to find the difference between the money he gave the cashier and the cost of the headphones.
One way to solve with decimals is to use a number line.
From 35 to 34.99 is subtracting 0.01 more, so 50-34.99 = 15.01.
Daniel will get \$15.01 back.
5. A website charges \$9.99 a month to watch tv shows and movies. How much will 4 months cost?
You need to multiply to find the total price since each month is the same price.
One way to solve with decimals is by breaking up the decimal into place values.
Then combine each place value.
Whole numbers: 36 + 3 = 39
Tenths: 0.6 + 0.3 = 0.9
Hundredths: 0.06
Four months will cost \$39.96.
6. Maria had \$13.45 saved and then she was given \$23.50 on her birthday. How much money does she have now?
You need to combine the money she has saved and the money she was given, so add the numbers.
13.45=13 \cfrac{45}{100} \quad and \quad 23.50=23 \cfrac{50}{100}
Maria has \$36.95 now.
Money word problems FAQs
In 5th grade, students operate with decimals using their own strategies based on place value understanding and the connection to whole number and fraction operations. 6th grade is when students learn the standard algorithm for decimal operations.
Because coins have the value of 1, 5, 10, and 25, learning to operate with the coins builds student understanding of not only the operations but of patterns in our Base 10 system. When students begin to solve in dollars, they deepen their understanding of operating with decimals.
Learning how to use the money system is an important life skill. As students get older they will encounter situations like calculating the total of a bill or making change, so it is important that they have classroom experiences that promote the understanding of our money system.
The next lessons are
- Properties of equality
- Addition and subtraction
- Multiplication and division
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