How much money did the group spend on food?

Question

A group has a beginning total of $31,600.They spend $10,471 on fuel and $460 on a ticket. At the end of the day, they have $3,280 remaining. How much did they spend on food?

Answer 1

Try to visualize this:

 

The group starts out with $31,600. 

They spend $10,471 of it on fuel.

They spend $460 on a ticket.

They spend some more on food, and at the end of the day, they have $3,280 left.

 

So you could start by subtracting the amounts you know they spent on fuel and the ticket:

 

$31,600   starting amount

- 10,471  fuel

---------

$21, 129

-      460 ticket

----------

$20,669

 

Now, you know that after buying the food, only $3,280 is left, so if you subtract that, you'll be left with what they spent on food.

 

$20,669

-  3,280  final amount

---------

$17,389  food

Answer 2

Assuming food was the group's only other expense, $17,389:

 

31600-10471-460-3280=17,389