Everyday Finance Practice Test Worksheets
Everyday finance questions test whether you can turn a real-life situation into the right calculation. This page shows the core methods for bills, contracts, rentals, labour charges, tax, and percentage questions.
For students who understand basic money, but get stuck when contracts, extra charges, tax, and percentages have to be tracked together.
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What Do Everyday Finance Questions Look Like?
Everyday finance questions present real-world scenarios such as utility bills, mobile phone allowances, car rentals, or tradesperson charges. You are given base rates, usage limits, or tax percentages and asked to calculate differences, extra fees, or total costs. Here is a worked example.
Extra Mobile Data
Question: Linda's mobile phone contract costs £9.00 a month and includes 18 GB of data. Last month, she used 28 GB. The network charges £4.70 for every extra GB used over the allowance. How many extra GB did Linda use?
Worked Method
Step 1: Compare the total used with the allowance.
28 GB - 18 GB = 10 GB
Tip: Do not multiply by the extra charge until you know the extra amount. The question asks for the extra GB, not the cost.
Rules to Help You Solve Everyday Finance Questions
The numbers change from question to question, but the calculation patterns are predictable. Using the approach from the example above, most questions in this pack use one or more of these four rules.
🔢 Rule 1: Find the change first
Meter readings, allowances, and mileage limits usually ask for the difference between two values before anything else can be calculated.
Example: 5534 units - 4968 units = 566 units used
💷 Rule 2: Keep Pounds and Pence Consistent
You can convert a rate from pence to pounds before multiplying, or calculate the total in pence and divide by 100 afterwards. Label the units so a pence amount is not mistaken for pounds.
Example: 566 units at 25p each = 566 x £0.25 = £141.50
🧾 Rule 3: Build the subtotal before tax
When the listed charges exclude tax and the question applies the same tax rate to all of them, add the standing charges, labour, parts, or extras first. Calculate tax on that subtotal, then add it to find the final bill.
Example: If both charges exclude tax and the whole subtotal is taxed at 10%, £143.40 + £141.50 = £284.90, so the tax is £28.49
📊 Rule 4: Percentages need the right whole
Divide the part by the whole specified in the question, then multiply by 100. Use the total before tax only when the question asks for that total.
Example: For a £50 callout fee as a percentage of a £272.50 bill before tax, (£50 / £272.50) × 100 ≈ 18.3%, rounded to 1 decimal place.
Two More Worked Examples
Here are two additional problems showing how to calculate multi-step costs with tax and how to find the percentage a fee represents of an overall bill.
Car Rental with Extra Mileage
Question: Paloma rented a car for 10 days at £35.00 per day, with 150 miles included for the entire rental. She drove 196 miles. Extra mileage costs 20p per mile. Both rates exclude tax, and 5% tax is added to the combined rental and extra-mileage charges. What is the final cost?
Worked Method
Step 1: Find the extra mileage: 196 - 150 = 46 miles.
Step 2: Find the extra mileage cost: 46 x £0.20 = £9.20.
Step 3: Find the rental cost: 10 x £35.00 = £350.00.
Step 4: Subtotal before tax: £350.00 + £9.20 = £359.20.
Step 5: Add 5% tax: £359.20 x 0.05 = £17.96, so £359.20 + £17.96 = £377.16.
Tip: Either calculate 46 × £0.20 = £9.20, or calculate 46 × 20p = 920p and then convert to £9.20. Writing 920p as £920 would make the charge 100 times too large.
Percentage of a Bill
Question: Amalia hired an electrician from 14:00 to 19:00. The callout fee was £50.00, the hourly rate was £37.50, and parts cost £35.00. What percentage of the total bill before tax was the callout fee? Round your answer to 1 decimal place.
Worked Method
Step 1: Find the time worked: 19:00 - 14:00 = 5 hours.
Step 2: Find the labour cost: 5 x £37.50 = £187.50.
Step 3: Find the total before tax: £50.00 + £187.50 + £35.00 = £272.50.
Step 4: Divide the callout fee by the total before tax: (£50.00 / £272.50) × 100 ≈ 18.3% to 1 decimal place.
Tip: The trap is using the wrong whole. The percentage is not £50 as a percentage of the labour cost; it is £50 as a percentage of the total before tax.
