Arithmetic Word Problems About Grocery Shopping

You can use arithmetic daily in many settings. Here are some suggestions for how you can make up arithmetic story problems about grocery shopping. To see more suggestions for other contexts go to Use Arithmetic Everyday.

Shopping provides an opportunity for problems about:

The number of types of items bought or needed:
How many...?
How many more...?

The cost of items and the cost per unit:
How much...?
How much does each ounce (gram, pound, single item) cost?

A comparison of costs and savings:
How much more or less is one item?
How much will it cost minus the coupon?
Which is a better buy?
What is the total of the coupons?
How much did you save by using coupons?

Addition

You are buying items that cost 48 cents, 37 cents, and 89 cents. What is the total cost of the items you are buying?

You have coupons worth 30 cents, 50 cents, and 15 cents. What is the total of the coupons you are using?

You bought 3 loaves of white bread and 2 loaves of wheat bread. How many loaves of bread did you buy?

How much do you need to buy a box of cookies for $3.34 and a carton of milk for $1.65?

Subtraction

Your items total $37. Your coupons total $4. How much do you owe?

This jar of pickles cost $1.47. The coupon is worth 30 cents. How much will the pickles cost?

You have $100. The total for the groceries is $67. How much will you have left over after you pay the cashier?

This bag weighs 7 pounds and that bag weighs 15 pounds. Which bag weighs more, by how much?

Multiplication

This one bag weighs 5 pounds. How much do 180 bags weigh?

This item costs 20 cents per pound. How much will 4 pounds cost?

You bought 3 packages of butter with 4 sticks in each pack, how many sticks are there altogether?

Division

This item costs 85 cents for 15 ounces. How much is it per ounce?

You have 10 cents. How many gumballs for 2 cents each can you buy?

We paid $2 for this bag of 10 oranges. How much did each orange cost?

In the last 4 weeks we spent $820 on groceries. About how much do we spend each week for groceries?

Multiple Operations

Which costs more 4 pounds of apples at 30 cents a pound, or 6 pounds of potatoes at 15 cents a pound? How much more, or how much less, does it cost?

Which is a better buy onions at 39 cents a pound, or 3 pounds of onions for 99 cents? How much will you save buying the better buy?

One brand of soup costs 80 cents for 10 ounces another costs 90 cents for 12 ounces -- which is cheaper? By how much?