Free ATI TEAS 7 Mathematics guide
October 2026 - Money Management Study Guide for nursing students in
Budgeting questions cover income against expenses, unit-price comparison, discounts, tax, tips and simple interest. None of the arithmetic is hard; the marks are won by reading precisely what is being asked for — the amount saved or the amount paid, the monthly figure or the annual one.
Budgets
A budget question is subtraction with careful bookkeeping.
- Total the income, then total the expenses, then subtract. The remainder is what is left over — the surplus, or a deficit if negative.
- Watch the period. A weekly expense against a monthly income needs converting first, and the exam mixes them deliberately.
- For "what percentage of income goes on rent", it is rent ÷ income × 100 — a part-to-whole percentage.
- For a savings target, work out the shortfall and divide by the amount saved per period to get the number of periods.
Apply a discount before tax unless the question says otherwise, and read whether it wants the amount saved or the amount paid. Those two instructions between them account for most of the wrong answers in this topic.
Discount then tax
Worked example
A set of scrubs is priced at £45, reduced by 20%, with 5% tax added at the till. What is the final price?
- Apply the discount first:
45 × 0.80 = 36. - Apply the tax to the discounted price:
36 × 1.05 = 37.80. - Check what is being asked. The final price is £37.80; the amount saved would be
45 - 36 = 9before tax.
£37.80. Taxing first and then discounting gives the same figure here because multiplication commutes, but questions that apply tax only to part of a basket do not, so keep the stated order.
The standard calculations
| Task | Method | Trap |
|---|---|---|
| Unit price | Total price ÷ quantity | Comparing pack prices instead of per-unit prices |
| Discount | × (100 − rate)% | Giving the saving when the price was asked for |
| Tax or tip | × (100 + rate)% | Adding the rate to the wrong base |
| Simple interest | I = P × r × t | Using months where the rate is annual |
| Total repayable | Principal + interest | Reporting the interest alone |
Simple interest
Simple interest is I = P × r × t: principal times rate times time. £2,000 at 4% for three years earns 2000 × 0.04 × 3 = 240, so £240 of interest and £2,240 repayable in total.
Time has to match the rate. A 6% annual rate over 8 months is t = 8/12, not 8. This is the one genuinely error-prone step in the calculation, and it is where the distractors come from.
Tips and shared bills
- A 15% tip on £48 is
48 × 0.15 = 7.20; the total paid is £55.20. - To split a bill including a tip, add the tip first and then divide.
- To estimate a tip quickly: 10% is the bill with the decimal point moved one place left, and half of that again is 5%.
Terms to know
- Income
- Money coming in over a period.
- Expense
- Money going out, whether fixed or variable.
- Surplus
- What remains after expenses are subtracted from income.
- Deficit
- The shortfall when expenses exceed income.
- Unit price
- The cost of one unit — what makes different pack sizes comparable.
- Principal
- The original amount borrowed or invested.
- Simple interest
- Interest calculated only on the principal:
I = P × r × t. - Gross and net
- Gross is before deductions; net is what actually arrives.
What the TEAS asks most
The same core ideas appear in different wording. If you can answer these without stopping to think, you have what this section requires.
How much is left over each month?
Total income minus total expenses, with every figure converted to the same period first.
Which option is the better value?
Unit price for each, then compare.
What is the price after a discount and tax?
Discount first, then tax on the discounted amount, unless told otherwise.
How much interest is earned, and what is the total?
I = P × r × t, with t in years. Then read whether the question wants the interest or the total.
Key points
- Convert everything to the same time period before comparing or subtracting.
- Discount before tax, unless the question specifies otherwise.
- Read whether the answer wanted is the price paid or the amount saved.
- Unit price is the only fair way to compare different pack sizes.
- Simple interest is
P × r × t, and t must be in the same unit as the rate.
Review quiz
4 questions on this topic, each with the reasoning worked through. Pick an answer to see how it went, or open the explanation straight away.
-
Question 1 of 4
A student earns £1,450 a month. Rent is £620, travel £145, food £280 and other costs £190. How much is left each month?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. £215
The expenses total
620 + 145 + 280 + 190 = 1,235, and1,450 - 1,235 = 215. £1,235 is the expense total offered as an answer in its own right, and the other two figures come from dropping one of the four expenses from the sum. -
Question 2 of 4
A £64 uniform is reduced by 25%. Sales tax of 8% is then added. What is the final price?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. £51.84
64 × 0.75 = 48, then48 × 1.08 = 51.84. £48 is the discounted price before tax — correct arithmetic, wrong stopping point — and the higher figures come from applying the tax to the original £64 rather than to the discounted amount. -
Question 3 of 4
£1,500 is invested at 4% simple interest for 9 months. How much interest is earned?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. £45
1500 × 0.04 × (9/12) = 45. £60 is a full year's interest, which is what you get by ignoring the nine-month term; £540 treats t as 9 years; and £1,545 is the total balance rather than the interest the question asked for. -
Question 4 of 4
Which is cheaper per item: a box of 24 gloves for £7.20, or a box of 40 for £11.60?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. The box of 40, at £0.29 each
7.20 ÷ 24 = 0.30and11.60 ÷ 40 = 0.29, so the larger box is marginally cheaper per glove. The last choice is the trap the topic exists to defeat: a lower total price says nothing about value when the quantities differ.
Put this TEAS topic into practice
Build a set on money management and use the rationale on every question to reinforce what you just reviewed.
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