24. Preparing his son for school, the father bought him a new uniform for 24 r. How did he pay for the purchase, if he only had 5 r bills, and the cashier only had 3 r bills?
24. If the buyer gave the cashier $x$ bills and received $y$ bills as change, we have the equation $5 x-3 y=24$, from which $x=\frac{24+3 y}{5}$. Since $x$ must be an integer, $24+3 y$ must be divisible by 5. This is possible with the smallest value of $y=2$. Therefore, the buyer gave 6 bills (30 p.) and received 6 p. as change (2 bills of 3 p.).