Maria received a gift of cash from her grandmother. She put two-thirds of the money in her savings account, spent twenty-five dollars on a pair of jeans, and spent half the remaining money on a DVD. If Maria has eighteen dollars left over, how much money did she receive from her grandmother?

Question

anonymous · Answer

She got a lot of money...
I'm kidding here's how you find it
Work backwards
She spent half of the remaining money on a DVD
If she has 18 dollars left...what is 18*2?

anonymous · Answer

I was going to give a full walkthrough
but since you're not replying, ill let the other guy take over

whpalmer4 · Answer

If for some reason you don't feel comfortable working backwards, and want to do it by solving an equation:

Let $x$ be the amount she is given.

$$x-\frac{2}{3}x= \text{amount she has left after depositing 2/3 in savings account}$$$$x-\frac{2}{3}x - 25=\text{amount she has left after buying a pair of jeans for \$25}$$$$(\frac{1}{2})(x-\frac{2}{3}x-25)=\text{amount she has left after buying DVD}$$
and you know that final amount is $$18$ so your final equation before simplification is$$18 = (\frac{1}{2})(x-\frac{2}{3}x-25)$$

Pretty easy to solve that for $x$.  Be sure to check your answer, whichever approach you take to finding it!