Solution to Bert’s expenditure

This question is all about Bert’s expenditure. But it is made more difficult because of the units that are used. Each week Bert spends on beer 6 times 4 pence. Here, D stands for pence. So he spends 24 pence a week on beer. This is equal to 2 shillings, as there are 12 pence in a shilling. For his bus pass, he spends two shillings and sixpence. And for his rent, he pays 30 shillings. You can see that the way that these numbers have been ordered, to allow us to add them up more easily. So, if we add these together, the total amount of expenditure that Bert has in a week is 34 shillings and six pence.

So now we can work out how many loaves of bread Bert can buy. Bert’s wages are one pound, 18 shillings, and sixpence a week. Because his expenditure was in terms of shillings only, it’s worth converting this into shillings and pence. This is 38 shillings and sixpence, as there are 20 shillings in a pound. So, Bert’s expenditure, If you remember, was 34 shillings and sixpence. If we subtract one from the other, we have four shillings remaining. Now, the cost of bread is three pence per loaf and Bert has four lots of 12 pence, because there’s 12 pence in a shilling, which is 48 pence remaining.

So, if we divide 48 by three, which is the price of a loaf, Bert can buy 16 loaves.