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Most people on a budget (i.e. the vast majority of people) are constantly using exact or approximate multiplication while shopping. And they are rarely whipping out their calculator for this purpose.

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Why not just use the calculator app on your smart phone? That's what I do. (School made me all too aware of how easy it is for me to get the wrong answer when trying to do calculations mentally)

Depends on the calculation and context, it is definitely advisable to use tools for complex or high-risk situations, dividing the dinner bill by 2 or 3, that should not require a calculator or one of the thousands of bill splitting apps, perhaps it is a bit harder when you want divide bill by items, but not a high risk situation.

practice makes perfect, exercise your brain like your body

I use addition when shopping. Multiplication is not necessary.

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