Jessica recently compiled a budget for herself. She believes she needs to do a better job planning her finances and knows this could be a step in the right direction. Her take home pay is $2,500. The following table shows her budgeted and actual values for the month of May: Jessica puts any unallocated funds into her savings account. Assume Jessica's take-home pay increased to $2,750 and use her Actual numbers from May, by what percent would the amount she can put into savings change?
A) 42.30% less into savings
B) 42.30% more into savings
C) 73.31% less into savings
D) 73.31% more into savings

Question

Jessica recently compiled a budget for herself. She believes she needs to do a better job planning her finances and knows this could be a step in the right direction. Her take home pay is $2,500. The following table shows her budgeted and actual values for the month of May:  Jessica puts any unallocated funds into her savings account. Assume Jessica's take-home pay increased to $2,750 and use her Actual numbers from May, by what percent would the amount she can put into savings change?
A) 42.30% less into savings 
B) 42.30% more into savings 
C) 73.31% less into savings 
D) 73.31% more into savings

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This question requires familiarity using Excel to calculate percentages. To calculate the percent change, first sum the Actual Column and place the total in row 9. The total actual amount equals $2,159. When you subtract this from the original take-home pay of $2,500, this leaves $341 surplus income for her savings account. When you subtract this from the increased take home pay value $2,750, this leaves $591 in surplus income for saving. Then, you use the formula: (New amount of savings - Old amount of savings)/(Old amount of savings) placed in an unoccupied cell. ($591-$341)/$341 = 73.31% more for savings (Choice D). The remaining choices are incorrect in value, sign, or both.

Jessica Recently Compiled a Budget for Herself