A boutique owner paid a total of $1260 for some skirts and some jumpsuits. He paid $260 less for the skirts than the jumpsuits. Each skirt cost $9 less than each jumpsuit. The number of skirts he bought was ⁴₅ of the number of jumpsuits bought.

1. How much did he pay for all the skirts?
2. How many skirts did he buy?

	Skirts	Jumpsuits	Difference in cost	Number of items in 1 set
Number of sets	4	5
Total cost	$500	$760
Cost of 1 set	500 ÷ 4 = $125	760 ÷ 5 = $152	152 - 125 = $27
Cost of each item	1 u	1 u + $9	$9	27 ÷ 9 = 3

(a)
Total amount = $1260
Total amount spent on skirts = (1260 - 260) ÷ 2 = $500
Total amount spent on jumpsuits = 500 + 260 = $760

Amount that he paid for all the skirts = $500

(b)
4 sets of skirts = $500
5 sets of jumpsuits = $760

1 set of skirts = 500 ÷ 4 = $125
1 set of jumpsuits = 760 ÷ 5 = $152

Difference in the amount paid for each set of jumpsuits and skirts
= 152 - 125
= $27

The extra $27 is due to each jumpsuit costing $9 more than each skirt.

Number of skirts in 1 set
= 27 ÷ 9
= 3

Number of skirts that he bought
= 4 sets of skirts
= 4 x 3
= 12

Answer(s): (a) $500; (b) 12