Question

Bi-weekly mortgage is $455. Monthly phone charges are $34.95. The electric bill last month was $65.88. Groceries cost about $87/ week. What is a good estimate of your monthly expenses?
(1 point)
Responses

$643.00
$643.00

$904.00
$904.00

$1,098.00
$1,098.00

$1,359.00

Answer 1

To estimate your monthly expenses, we need to convert the bi-weekly mortgage payment and the weekly groceries expense into monthly figures and then sum all expenses.

1. **Bi-weekly mortgage payment**:
- $455 every two weeks means there are approximately 2.17 bi-weekly periods in a month.
- Monthly mortgage = $455 * 2.17 = $987.85 (rounding to $988 for simplicity).

2. **Monthly phone charges**:
- $34.95 (already a monthly figure).

3. **Electric bill**:
- $65.88 (already a monthly figure).

4. **Groceries**:
- $87 per week means there are approximately 4.33 weeks in a month.
- Monthly groceries = $87 * 4.33 = $376.11 (rounding to $376 for simplicity).

Now, sum all the estimated monthly expenses:

- Mortgage: $988
- Phone: $34.95
- Electric: $65.88
- Groceries: $376

Total = $988 + $34.95 + $65.88 + $376 = $1,464.83

This total doesn't match any of the provided response options, which indicates there may have been a mistake in rounding or estimation. However, looking at the response options, the closest one is:

**$1,359.00**

Thus, a good estimate of your monthly expenses is **$1,359.00**.