The Year 5 Breakfast Stall Budget
A Year 5 class runs a breakfast stall at the school fair. They have a float of $60. They buy 4 loaves of bread at $3.50 each, 3 cartons of juice at $4.20 each, and 2 tubs of spread at $5.75 each. They plan to sell toast for $2.00 a slice and juice cups for $1.50 each. Each loaf makes 12 slices, and each carton of juice fills 8 cups. They must repay the $60 float first, then any leftover money goes to the class excursion fund. On the day, they sell 40 slices of toast and 20 juice cups. Two slices of toast are dropped and cannot be sold, and one carton of juice is spilled before it is opened.
1. Calculate the total cost of the ingredients and decide whether the class repays the float.
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Bread: 4 × $3.50 = $14.00. Juice: 3 × $4.20 = $12.60. Spread: 2 × $5.75 = $11.50. Total = $14.00 + $12.60 + $11.50 = $38.10. This is less than the $60 float, so the class has $60 − $38.10 = $21.90 left in the float. The float is not spent, so it is already safe; the profit comes from sales. Repaying the float means setting aside the $60, which they can do because they still hold $21.90 plus sales income.
2. Work out the money raised for the excursion fund after the float is repaid, showing the effect of the dropped toast and spilled juice.
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Available toast slices: 4 loaves × 12 = 48 slices. Two are dropped, so 46 can be sold. They sell 40, which is within 46, so toast income = 40 × $2.00 = $80.00.
Available juice cups: 3 cartons × 8 = 24 cups. One carton is spilled, so only 2 cartons are usable = 16 cups. They sell 20 cups but only 16 exist, so the realistic sale is 16 cups = 16 × $1.50 = $24.00.
Total sales = $80.00 + $24.00 = $104.00. Subtract ingredient cost $38.10 = $65.90 profit. The float of $60 is returned, leaving $65.90 for the excursion fund. A common error is to count 20 juice cups and ignore the spill, which overstates income by 4 × $1.50 = $6.00.
3. The teacher wants at least $80 for the excursion fund. Suggest one change to the plan and test whether it would have reached the target.
Read the worked answer
One option is to buy one extra carton of juice for $4.20. That gives 4 cartons = 32 cups, and with one spilled, 3 cartons = 24 cups. They could then sell all 20 cups they actually sold: 20 × $1.50 = $30.00 instead of $24.00, an extra $6.00 income but $4.20 extra cost, a net gain of $1.80. New profit = $65.90 + $1.80 = $67.70, still below $80.
A stronger option is to raise the toast price to $2.50. Toast income becomes 40 × $2.50 = $100.00, total sales $124.00, profit $124.00 − $38.10 = $85.90, which clears $80. The judgement is that price change has a bigger effect than buying more stock, because the fixed costs are already covered.