Michelle bought a bunch of balloons and three letters for \( \$ 5.75 \). Jesus bought two bunches of balloons and two letters for \( \$ 7.50 \).

Let’s break down the mystery of balloons and letters! Michelle’s purchase can be represented with the equation \( b + 3l = 5.75 \), where \( b \) is the cost of one bunch of balloons and \( l \) is the cost of one letter. Meanwhile, Jesus’s equation is \( 2b + 2l = 7.50 \). By simplifying the second equation to \( b + l = 3.75 \), we can substitute to find the price of each item. Fun, right? Once you solve the equations, you discover that one bunch of balloons costs \( \$2.00 \) and each letter costs \( \$1.75 \). This scenario is a classic example of using systems of equations to solve real-life pricing problems, which is super handy for budgeting your next birthday party! Keep those equations handy for any shopping mystery!