Jen spends half his money on lunch and then spends $1.50 for a magazine. He uses one third of what he has left to pay for the bus ride home, then gives his little brother a quarter.If Jen has three nickles and two quarters left, how much money did he have before lunch?

Question

Jen spends half his money on lunch and then spends $1.50 for a magazine. He uses one third of what he has left to pay for the bus ride home, then gives his little brother a quarter.If Jen has three nickles and two quarters left, how much money did he have before lunch?

Answer 1

If m is the starting amount (in cents), then we have

after buying the magazine, he has m - 150
1/3 of that is 1/3(m-150)

m - 150 - 1/3(m-150) - 25 = 65
m - 150 - m/3 + 50 - 25 = 65
2m/3 -125 = 65
2m/3 = 190
m = 285

So, he started with $2.85