Correct Change

Last week I was visiting my parents in the States, and the kids and I did a bit of shopping.  I was using my American cash as much as possible, and I wanted to have the least amount of change after every transaction.  It seems that the art of making change has been lost.  I had three confused employees in one day!

The first was at Goodwill.  My total was $47.47, so I handed over

$20

$20

$10

$1

$1

25¢

10¢

10¢

1¢

1¢

(that's $52.47)

She tried to give me $10 back, and got really confused when I would only take $5.  She had to call her manager over, and I had to explain it all to her as well.  All was good in the end, and the kids and I got a chuckle out of it.

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The second encounter was at Hobby Lobby.  My total was $33.17, so I handed over

$20

$10

$1

$1

$1

25¢

1¢

1¢

(that's $33.27)

She tried to give me my pennies back because the quarter already was more than the 17¢ I owed.  When I refused to take them back she was mystified, so I just told her to punch in what I gave her, once she had done that she understood. I only wanted 1 coin back, not a bunch of pennies!

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The third encounter was a short time later, also at Hobby Lobby (we forgot something), with a different cashier.  My total was $17.43, so I handed over

$20

$1

$1

25¢

25¢

(I had run out of pennies at that point)

(that's $22.50)

He tried to give my $2 back, and when I said no, he said, "but the $20 covers it."

I knew that, but please, "just trust me on this."

So, he punched it into the till, and viola! I received $5.07 back so I wouldn't have a bunch of $1 bills.

MATH TEACHERS, can we please work on money, and correct change so people can understand what they are doing on the cash registers?  I know most people pay with cards, I do most of the time too, but this is an important skill!