YourHomeschool YourHomeschool Curriculum By state Workbooks Games Open the Tutor
Curriculum › Grades 3-5 › Life Skills & Career Paths

Making Change and Checking a Receipt

  • Grades 3-5
  • Life Skills & Career Paths
  • JS:FD-2
  • Consumer Skills
  • Free lesson

Aligned to JS:FD-2 — Jump$tart National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education & Advance CTE Career Clusters.

What this lesson teaches

Paying with cash means getting change back, and the person handing it to you can make a mistake. Counting up from the price to the amount you paid is the fastest way to check. The receipt is the record of what you were actually charged.

Worked examples

Example 1

A snack costs $6.35 and you pay with a $10 bill. Count up: 65 cents to $7, then $3 to $10 — so your change is $3.65.

Example 2

Check the receipt against the shelf price. An item rung up at the regular price when it was marked on sale is a common and fixable error.

Example 3

Keep the receipt until you are sure you are keeping the item. Most stores will not take a return without it.

Practice questions

  1. An item is $12.40 and you pay $20. What is your change? Count up.
  2. Look at a real receipt and find the subtotal, the tax, and the total.
  3. Why should you keep a receipt after you leave the store?

Watch the lesson

Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.

▶ Watch this lesson

En español

Dar cambio y revisar un recibo

Pagar en efectivo significa recibir cambio, y la persona que te lo da puede equivocarse. Contar hacia arriba desde el precio hasta lo que pagaste es la forma más rápida de revisar. El recibo es el registro de lo que realmente te cobraron.

Ejemplo 1: Un bocadillo cuesta $6.35 y pagas con un billete de $10. Cuenta hacia arriba: 65 centavos para llegar a $7, luego $3 para llegar a $10 — tu cambio es $3.65.

Ejemplo 2: Compara el recibo con el precio del estante. Que te cobren el precio normal cuando estaba marcado en oferta es un error común y se puede corregir.

Ejemplo 3: Guarda el recibo hasta estar seguro de que te quedas con el artículo. Casi ninguna tienda acepta una devolución sin él.

More Consumer Skills lessons

Price, Unit Price, and Getting a Good DealJS:FD-1How Advertising Tries to Get Your MoneyJS:FD-4Staying Safe Online and Protecting Your InformationJS:FD-6

Teach this lesson today

An AI tutor that guides with questions instead of just giving answers — all K–12 core subjects, every child in the family.

Start free — no card required