Do You Like to Buy Things? Then Math is Your Friend.

I know a lot of people who like to shop.  Not many people realize how much math is involved in shopping.  Even if you're not a shopper, the ability to purchase things that you want is part of our society.  I try to shop for deals when I can.  There are many different ways that stores offer incentives to purchase items.  There are discounts, sales, membership clubs, etc.

There is a pitfall to watch out for.  Many times, the sale, or discount, isn't in the store's system correctly.  When I go to check out and pay for my items, the system doesn't show the correct pricing.  Many times, the clerk relies on the system rather than trying to do the math to calculate the correct price.  I find this really annoying.  I keep a mental note of the cost of each item I'm purchasing so I know about how much I will be spending.  It really upsets me to work with a cashier who refuses to acknowledge anything other than what the system says the price is.  I show them the sale, and what the correct price should be and they either look confused, or shrug their shoulders.   ARGH!

The reason I bring this up is to show the importance of basic math when shopping.  Being able to calculate percentages and fractions will help when figuring out the correct price on a sale item.  Being able to do basic addition will help you with the total amount of money that you should be spending on the items at the checkout.  I typically round up the estimated price to the nearest dollar.  I don't want to keep track of all of the pennies for multiple items.

Remember that in many cases there will be a sales tax percentage added on to the final total.  That is another case where knowing how to calculate percentages will come in handy.

So the next time you're out shopping, practice up on you math skills and save some money.  Don't let stores get more money from you than is necessary.  After all, the more you save, the more you can afford later.

For more information on how to calculate some of the math skills listed, try these online calculators.

General Math Calculators

Finance Calculators

Profit Markup Calculator and Profit Margin Calculator

CalcuNATION is a website featuring online calculators and educational resources for mathematics.  Other Mathematical Blogs ( CalcuNATION on EduBlogs and CalcuNATION on Blogger)