Question

Ted is looking over his spending pattern for the past week to try to determine how much money he had on Sunday. This is Ted's spending pattern:

Day
Debit ($)
Credit ($)
Monday
112
---
Tuesday
141
18
Wednesday
56
---
Thursday
28
70
Friday
22
42
Saturday
16
88

If the bank charges Ted an overdraft fee of $25 every time he overdraws his account, and Ted overdrew his account on Wednesday but not on Friday, which of the following is a possible amount of money that Ted could have had in his account last Sunday? Assume that the only debits and credits not listed are overdraft fees.
a.
$300
b.
$280
c.
$240
d.
$200

Answer 1

Answer: (b) $280.

Reason: Start with $280.

- Monday: 280 - 112 = 168.
- Tuesday: 168 - 141 + 18 = 45.
- Wednesday: 45 - 56 = -11 → overdraft fee $25 → -36 (he overdrew on Wednesday).
- Thursday: apply the $70 credit before the $28 debit: -36 + 70 - 28 = 6 (no overdraft Thursday).
- Friday: apply the $42 credit before the $22 debit: 6 + 42 - 22 = 26 (no overdraft Friday).

Thus $280 is possible. The other choices either cannot produce an overdraft on Wednesday (300) or force an overdraft on Friday (240 and 200).