Jose is trying to decide how many friends he can invite to his roller skating party. Skate rentals cost $2.50 per person, including Jose, and he knows that 3 adult chaperones plan to skate. How many friends can Jose invite if he wants to spend only $50.00 total on skate rentals? Jose can invite __ friends.
The cost of skate rentals for Jose and his friends is $2.50 per person, including himself. Since he wants to spend a total of $50.00, we can divide the total cost by the cost of each skate rental: $50.00 / $2.50 = <<50/2.5=20>>20 skate rentals.
Since 3 adult chaperones plan to skate, we need to subtract their skate rentals from the total: 20 - 3 = <<20-3=17>>17 friends can Jose invite to his party. Answer: \boxed{17}.