To calculate the total cost of your grocery purchases, I'll follow these steps:
1. **Calculate the cost of each item.**
2. **Sum the costs of all items to find the subtotal.**
3. **Determine the applicable discount, if any.**
4. **Apply the discount to the subtotal.**
5. **Calculate the sales tax on the discounted total.**
6. **Add the sales tax to the discounted total to find the final total.**
### Step 1: Calculate the cost of each item
- **Cheese**:
\[ \text{Cost} = \frac{1}{2} \text{ lb} \times \$2.99/\text{lb} = 0.5 \times 2.99 = \$1.495 \]
- **Sliced Ham**:
\[ \text{Cost} = 2 \text{ lbs} \times \$4.29/\text{lb} = 2 \times 4.29 = \$8.58 \]
- **Bread**:
\[ \text{Cost} = 2 \text{ loaves} \times \$2.49/\text{loaf} = 2 \times 2.49 = \$4.98 \]
- **Potato Chips**:
The best deal is to buy 2 bags for $3.00.
\[ \text{Cost} = 3 \text{ bags} = 1.5 \times 3.00 = \$4.50 \] (as 2 bags cost 3.00 and the 3rd bag costs 1.99, but buying three individually is \$4.97)
- **Salsa**:
\[ \text{Cost} = 2 \text{ containers} \times \$3.39/\text{container} = 2 \times 3.39 = \$6.78 \]
### Step 2: Sum the costs of all items
Now, let's sum the cost of all the items calculated above:
\[
\text{Subtotal} = 1.495 + 8.58 + 4.98 + 4.50 + 6.78
\]
\[
\text{Subtotal} = 26.303
\]
### Step 3: Determine the applicable discount
- The subtotal is **$26.30**, which is greater than $25.00.
- Since it is not over $30.00, the applicable discount is **$3.00 off**.
### Step 4: Apply the discount to the subtotal
\[
\text{Discounted Total} = \text{Subtotal} - \text{Discount} = 26.303 - 3.00 = 23.303
\]
### Step 5: Calculate the sales tax on the discounted total
- The food sales tax is **4%**.
\[
\text{Sales Tax} = 0.04 \times 23.303 = 0.93212
\]
### Step 6: Add the sales tax to the discounted total
\[
\text{Final Total} = \text{Discounted Total} + \text{Sales Tax} = 23.303 + 0.93212 = 24.23512
\]
### Conclusion
Rounding to two decimal places, the total cost of your purchases is:
\[
\text{Total Cost} = \$24.24
\]
### Summary of Results:
- **Subtotal**: $26.30
- **Discount**: $3.00
- **Discounted Total**: $23.30
- **Sales Tax**: $0.93
- **Final Total**: **$24.24**