GCSE · Maths · AQA · Spec 8300

Household finance vocabulary

Sell a hoodie for more than you paid. Tap a card for lunch. Borrow money for a phone. Each has its own money word. Can you name them?

Maths · Household finance

Which money word is this?

Pick a situation, then pick the money word it describes. Commit first: the reason only appears once you have chosen.

Still to sort

Cost price (0)

What an item cost to buy.

Where the line is: Same item, two prices: the cost price is what was paid to buy it, and the selling price is what it goes for when it is sold.

Selling price (0)

What an item is sold for.

Profit (0)

Sold for more than the cost price.

Where the line is: Profit or loss? Compare the selling price with the cost price. Sold for more means a profit; sold for less means a loss.

Loss (0)

Sold for less than the cost price.

Debit (0)

Your own money, taken straight out of your own bank account.

Where the line is: Debit or credit? Ask whose money is being spent. Your own is debit; money borrowed from a lender is credit.

Credit (0)

Borrowed money from a lender. Interest may be added.

Balance (0)

The money remaining on a card.

Income tax (0)

A tax on income, such as money earned from working.

Where the line is: Income tax or VAT? Ask what is being taxed. Money people earn means income tax; the price of goods and services means VAT.

VAT (0)

A tax on most goods and services, built into the price.

Interest (0)

Extra money added to savings or to loans.

11 of 11 still to sort.

Watch out: Profit and loss are both the gap between the same two prices. What decides the word is which way round the gap goes: selling price bigger, or cost price bigger?

Maths · Percentage profit and loss

A percentage of what it was at first
0102030405060708090100110120drag the selling price →

Selling price: 11/12. Selling price as a % of cost price 110. Cost price (fixed) £19.70. Selling price £21.67. Profit or loss Profit of £1.97. Percentage profit or loss 10% profit

Selling price as a % of cost price110Cost price (fixed)£19.70Selling price£21.67Profit or lossProfit of £1.97Percentage profit or loss10% profit

Some goods cost £19.70 altogether. That cost price stays fixed at 100%, and the scale under the bar shows the selling price as a percentage of it. Drag the selling price and watch the profit or loss change.

Exam line: Selling at a 10% profit means selling for 110% of the cost price, so multiply by 1.1: £19.70 × 1.1 = £21.67.
Watch out: A percentage profit or loss is always worked out from the cost price, which is what it was at first. It is never worked out from the selling price.

Maths · Debit or credit?

Paying by credit: whose money is it?

Alex taps a credit card to pay for a new pair of trainers.

Which is closest to what you think is happening to the money?
How sure are you?

Maths · Interest on credit

How much do you pay back?

Someone borrows £200 on credit at an interest rate of 30%. How much does it cost them to pay back altogether?

  1. The interest rate gives the interest as a percentage of the sum borrowed. So the interest here is 30% of £200.Always a percentage of the amount borrowed, which is the amount it started from.
  2. missing step
Which line is step 2?

Exam line: Total to pay back = sum borrowed + interest, where the interest is the interest rate as a percentage of the sum borrowed.

Two taxes that are easy to mix up

Income taxvsVAT (Value Added Tax)

Start with the first row. It is the difference that matters most.

Focus

What is taxed?

Income tax

Income, such as the money people earn from working

VAT (Value Added Tax)

Most goods and services that people buy

The insight

Ask whether the money is being earned or spent. If it is earned, think income tax. If it is spent on goods or services, think VAT.

How much is paid?

Income tax

It depends on income: people who earn more pay more income tax

VAT (Value Added Tax)

It is built into the price customers pay. The standard UK rate is 20%

What is free of it?

Income tax

Most people in the UK have a tax-free Personal Allowance. That is an amount of income they can receive before any income tax is due

VAT (Value Added Tax)

Some items have a zero rate, such as most food and children’s clothing

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

Every money word names a particular amount in a particular situation. And percentage profit, loss and interest are always measured from where the money started.

What you need to know

  • Cost price is what an item cost to buy. Selling price is what it is sold for.
  • A profit is made when something sells for more than its cost price, and a loss when it sells for less.
  • A percentage profit or loss is a percentage of what it was at first, which is the cost price. A 10% profit means selling for 110% of the cost price, so you multiply by 1.1.
  • Paying by debit takes the money straight out of your own bank account. Paying by credit means spending borrowed money from a lender, and interest may be added.
  • The balance is the money remaining on a card. Each payment made with the card is taken off it.
  • Income tax is a tax on income, such as money earned from working. Most people in the UK have a tax-free Personal Allowance, and people who earn more pay more income tax.
  • VAT (Value Added Tax) is charged on most goods and services and is built into the price customers pay. The standard UK rate is 20%, and items such as most food and children’s clothing have a zero rate.
  • Interest is extra money added to savings or to loans. It is the charge a borrower pays a lender. The interest rate gives the interest as a percentage of the sum saved or borrowed.

The big picture

Household finance has its own vocabulary, and questions set in context expect you to spot which word applies. Cost price is what something cost; selling price is what it sells for. Selling for more makes a profit and selling for less makes a loss; a percentage profit or loss is worked out from the cost price. Debit spends your own money; credit spends money borrowed from a lender, and interest may be added. The balance is what is left on a card. Income tax is a tax on income, while VAT is built into prices. An interest rate gives interest as a percentage of the sum saved or borrowed.

Key points

1Before you calculate anything, name the money: which word is the situation describing?
2A percentage change is always worked out from the starting amount. For profit or loss that is the cost price; for interest it is the sum saved or borrowed.
3Whose money is it? If it is your own, that is debit. If it is borrowed from a lender, that is credit.
4Is the money being earned or spent? Earned means income tax. Spent on goods and services means VAT.
5To find the total to pay back, add the interest on to the sum borrowed.

Worked example

Problem

Maya bought a bike for £120. A year later she sold it for £90. Did she make a profit or a loss, and what is it as a percentage?

⚠ Watch out

Working out a percentage profit or loss from the selling price. The percentage is always of what it was at first, which is the cost price. So divide the profit or loss by the cost price, never by the selling price.

🧠

Memory hook

Start from the start: percentage profit, loss and interest all come from where the money began. Then ask whose money it is. Mine is debit; a lender’s is credit.

✓

Check yourself

A shop buys a jacket for £50 and sells it for £60. Profit or loss, and what is it as a percentage? (A profit of £10, which is 20% of the £50 cost price.)

Flashcards

(12)
Cost price
What an item cost to buy.
Selling price
What an item is sold for.
Profit
Made when something sells for more than its cost price.
Loss
Made when something sells for less than its cost price.
A percentage profit or loss is a percentage of what?
Of what it was at first: the cost price. A 10% profit means multiplying the cost price by 1.1.
Paying by debit
The money is taken straight out of your own bank account.
Paying by credit
Spending borrowed money from a lender. Interest may be added.
Balance
The money remaining on a card. Each payment made with the card is taken off it.
Income tax
A tax on income, such as money earned from working. Most people in the UK have a tax-free Personal Allowance: income they can receive before any income tax is due.
VAT
Value Added Tax: charged on most goods and services and built into the price. The standard UK rate is 20%; most food and children’s clothing are zero-rated.
Interest
Extra money added to savings or loans. It is the charge a borrower pays a lender for the use of the money.
Interest rate
The interest written as a percentage of the sum saved or borrowed.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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