Money

You hand over a 10-dollar note for a snack that costs 4 dollars and 60 cents. How much change should you get back? Money questions are everywhere on the PSLE because money is everywhere in real life — and the secret is that cents behave just like centimetres: 100 cents make a dollar, so you line them up the same way you line up any decimal. Once you keep dollars and cents tidy, money becomes easy marks.

Parents: let your child predict whether a problem adds, subtracts or works out change before they reveal. The "Method tip" boxes name the working a PSLE marker rewards, especially writing the dollar sign and two decimal places.

By the end you'll be able to add and subtract money, work out change, read a bill, and solve money word problems. Let's count.

Dollars and cents

A money amount has two parts: the dollars and the cents. There are 100 cents in 1 dollar, so we write amounts with a dot and two figures after it, like $4.60 — that is 4 dollars and 60 cents.

Always write two figures of cents. $4.6 should be written $4.60, and 5 cents is $0.05, not $0.5. The two-decimal habit keeps your sums neat and earns the marker's tick.

Adding and subtracting money

To add or subtract money, line up the decimal points and work as you would with any decimals — dollars under dollars, cents under cents. The 100-cents-per-dollar rule means you carry or borrow in tens just like normal numbers.

For example, $5.40 + $2.75: add the cents to get 115 cents, which is $1.15, so carry the dollar and the total is $8.15. Keeping the dots lined up is what stops mistakes.

Working out change

Change is what you get back when you pay with more money than the item costs. To find it, subtract the cost from the amount paid.

For example, you pay with a $10 note for something costing $4.60. The change is 10.00 − 4.60 = $5.40. A neat trick is to count up from the cost to the amount paid: from $4.60, 40 cents reaches $5.00, then $5 more reaches $10, so change is $5.40 — the same answer.

Reading a bill

A bill lists what was bought and adds up the total. To find the total, add every item's price. To find one missing price, take the total and subtract the prices you know.

For example, a hawker bill shows chicken rice $4.00, a drink $1.50 and soup $2.50. The total is 4.00 + 1.50 + 2.50 = $8.00. If the bill instead showed a total of $8.00 with the drink price missing, you would do 8.00 − 4.00 − 2.50 = $1.50.

Money word problems

Many money problems combine the skills above with multiplication or division. Buying several of the same thing is multiplication; sharing money equally is division. Read carefully to spot which.

For example, 3 identical pens cost $7.50 in total, so one pen is 7.50 ÷ 3 = $2.50. Or if one pen is $2.50, then 4 pens cost 4 × 2.50 = $10.00. Always finish by writing the answer with a dollar sign and two decimal places.

Watch out — these are easily mixed up

Quick recap

🎯 Mastery check

Answer all 6 — your progress is saved on this device.

1. How is "seven dollars and eight cents" correctly written?

   $7.8$7.08$7.80

2. What is $4.55 + $3.70?

   $7.25$8.25$8.15

3. Priya pays $50 for groceries costing $36.40. How much change does she get?

   $13.60$14.60$13.40

4. A bill shows a meal $6.80, a drink $2.20 and a dessert $3.00. What is the total?

   $11.00$12.00$11.20

5. 4 identical notebooks cost $13.20 altogether. How much is one notebook?

   $3.30$3.20$3.40

6. Sam buys 3 cups of bubble tea at $2.40 each and pays with a $10 note. How much change does he get?

   $2.80$2.20$3.20

See my score