Adding and subtracting money means finding the total or the difference between amounts of money written in dollars. These operations help solve real-world problems such as shopping, saving, and budgeting.
Always line up the decimal points when adding or subtracting money to make sure dollars and cents are in the correct place value.
To solve a money word problem, read carefully to decide whether to add or subtract. Use keywords such as “total,” “in all,” or “together” for addition, and “left,” “remain,” or “difference” for subtraction.
Underline or highlight important numbers and keywords in the problem to help you decide which operation to use.
Follow these steps to make sure your addition or subtraction of money is accurate and clear.
When checking your answer, estimate first. If your answer is much higher or lower than your estimate, check your subtraction or addition again.
In real life, you may need to work with large money amounts, such as when comparing the cost of homes, cars, or large purchases.
Always write the dollar sign before the number and place commas correctly for thousands (for example, $25,000 not $25000).
After solving, use the opposite operation to check your work. If you added, subtract to verify. If you subtracted, add to confirm the result.
Checking your answer helps prevent simple mistakes and builds confidence when working with money problems.