Christine went shopping and bought each of her eighteight nephews a gift, either a video costing $14.95 or a CD costing $16.88. She spent $131.18 on the gifts. How many videos and how many CDs did she buy?

So I think you should set up an equation like this: 14.95x+16.88y=131.18, x+y=8

so x=8-y, plug this into the original equation:

14.95 (8-y) + 16.88y=131.18

Evaluate: 119.60-14.95y+16.88y=131.18

Combine like terms: 119.60+1.93y=131.18

Subtract 119.60 from both sides. You get: 1.93y=11.58

Divide both sides by 1.93. You get y=6

Plug into second equation: x+y=8 - - - > x+6=8 and solve for x. x=2

Christine bought 2 video games and 6 CDs. 14.95 (2) + 16.88 (6) = 131.18