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I’m buying some food, and want the most calories I can get for my money.

I have a budget of $12.00. There are 3 food groups, and I need to pick 2 items from each of those groups. There is also a Dessert group- I have to pick one dessert item. That’s a total of 7 items. You can’t purchase an item more than once.

So here are my items:

ID  Food        Group                           Calories    Price
1   Banana      Fruit (must pick 2 fruits)      160         $.75
2   Apple       Fruit (must pick 2 fruits)      120         $.65
3   Orange      Fruit (must pick 2 fruits)      160         $1.25
4   Sausage     Meat (must pick 2 meats)        260         $3.05
5   Bologna     Meat (must pick 2 meats)        230         $1.15
6   Ground Beef Meat (must pick 2 meats)        310         $3.15
7   Salami      Meat (must pick 2 meats)        320         $2.73
8   Carrots     Veg (must pick 2 vegetables)    70          $1.80
9   Cucumbers   Veg (must pick 2 vegetables)    90          $2.10
10  Bell Pepper Veg (must pick 2 vegetables)    110         $1.35
11  Cake        Dessert (must pick 1 dessert)   350         $2.28
12  Pie         Dessert (must pick 1 dessert)   320         $2.90
13  Ice Cream   Dessert (must pick 1 dessert)   380         $1.86

Can I solve this in Excel using the Solver add-in? Would you mind pointing me in the right direction?

Excellll
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Hairgami_Master
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1 Answers1

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Unfortunately no. Excel can only vary one item at a time and you have at least 4 variables to change.

But, on the brighter side, you don't need the solver to get the best arrangement. First you calculate the cost per calorie. Select the lowest 2 (or 1) items from each group. You're done.

LDC3
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