Have you ever been presented with a bill which was much higher than it should be? We need to be careful when shopping or eating out that we are not charged too much money. In this activity, you will practise estimating the cost of a bill in the real world.

Eating out at a restaurant is another time estimating cost should be used. When you look at the menu, you should first estimate the cost of your dinner. Then you can calculate the exact cost using a calculator, paper, or in your head. You can estimate by rounding up or down.

For example. Let's take a look at the menu on the left. Estimate the total cost of this dinner using rounding.

 

   $12 becomes $10
    $4 becomes $5
    $6 becomes $5

This means your dinner will cost about 10 + 5 + 5, which adds up to $20. Your bill should be about $20. You can then calculate the exact cost to find out how much you will owe for your bill ($12 + $4 + $6 = $22).

What if your waitress gives you a bill of $25 for that same dinner? What should you do?

People make mistakes all the time! It is important that you can recognize these mistakes and ask people in the service industry to double check so that you are not overcharged.

  Self-check!