Page 382 - qrps

Quantitative Reasoning & Problem Solving
382 © 2014 Pacific Crest
Making it Matter Solving problems in your life
●Credit cards seem to abound in today’s society. The cost of credit is a large item in many families’
budgets. Consider the following story:
Sasha saw an absolutely gorgeous necklace on sale that she fell in love with. She had just received
a new credit card that had an APY of 22.5% (monthly interest of 1.875%) and required only a
minimum payment of $75 a month. She decided to spend the $3000 for the necklace as she felt that
she could easily make the minimum payments. For the first six months she made every payment
on time. In July, Sasha became sick and could not make the payments. The credit card company
was magnanimous and said that she could wait 6 months before resuming her monthly payments
although the interest would continue.
a. How much did Sasha still owe in July?
b. How much did Sasha still owe at the end of the first year?
c. Was the credit card company really doing her a favor by allowing her not to make payments
for 6 months?
Learning to Learn Mathematics Reflecting on and appreciating your learning
1. What did you learn about the cost of credit?
2. What did you learn about improving a credit score?
3. What did you learn about using algebraic or Excel formulas to calculate loan payments?
Assessing Your Performance Assessing your performance as a learner
Review the description of A Successful Performance and assess your own performance against the
standard offered there.
●How and why was your performance SUCCESSFUL?
●How can you IMPROVE your performance, making it more successful? What concrete steps do you
need to take to make each improvement?
Notes