Alice's goal is to have $30 in her account. she starts with $24.60 from washing cars. she spends $8.25 at the movies. then she earns another $11.50. does alicia now have $30? by how much is she over or under?

To start, because Alice starts out with 24.60, your starting number would be 24.60. Then, because she spends 8.25 dollars, you would then subtract this amount from Alice's original starting amount, 24.60. When you subtract, you should get 16.35. However, Alice then earns another $11.50, meaning you will add 11.25 to 16.35. This will result in $27.85 means that Alice does not have $30. This answers the first question. Then, the problem asks how much is Alice under or over $30. Because Alice is under $30, to find the amount of money she is under, you would perform 30-27.85 which would get you to the answer that Alice is $2.15 under 30 dollars. 

24.60 - 8.25 + 11.50 = 30

16.35 + 11.50 = 30

27.85 ≠ 30

Alicia does not have $30, she needs to earn 2.15 more dollars