Solve each problem.

Marcus has a monthly budget that breaks down as follows:
35
%
35% for housing,
22
%
22% for food,
12
%
12% for utilities,
18
%
18% for savings,
5
%
5% for entertainment, and
8
%
8% for personal items. Marcus has a net income of
$
4200
$4200 each month.

Calculate the amount of money that Marcus has each month for entertainment.

Marcus has $
for entertainment.

(b)
Last month Marcus spent
$
480
$480 on food and going out to eat. What percent of his monthly income did he spend on food?

Marcus spent approximately
% of his income on food.

(c)
Marcus wants to increase the amount he is setting aside for savings from
18
%
18% to
20
%
20%. How much more will he be saving?

Marcus will be saving $
more each month.

1 answer

To solve each problem, we will carry out the calculations step by step.

(a) Calculate the amount of money that Marcus has for entertainment.

Marcus has a monthly budget of $4200 and allocates 5% for entertainment.

\[ \text{Amount for entertainment} = \text{Net income} \times \text{Percentage for entertainment} \] \[ \text{Amount for entertainment} = 4200 \times 0.05 = 210 \]

So, Marcus has $210 for entertainment.


(b) Last month, Marcus spent $480 on food and going out to eat. We need to find what percent of his monthly income he spent on food.

The formula to find the percent spent is:

\[ \text{Percent spent on food} = \left( \frac{\text{Amount spent on food}}{\text{Net income}} \right) \times 100 \] \[ \text{Percent spent on food} = \left( \frac{480}{4200} \right) \times 100 \] \[ \text{Percent spent on food} = 0.1142857 \times 100 \approx 11.43 \]

Marcus spent approximately 11.43% of his income on food.


(c) Marcus wants to increase the amount he is setting aside for savings from 18% to 20%.

First, we find the amount he currently saves, then the amount he wants to save, and finally the difference.

Current savings: \[ \text{Current savings} = 4200 \times 0.18 = 756 \] New savings: \[ \text{New savings} = 4200 \times 0.20 = 840 \] Increase in savings: \[ \text{Increase in savings} = \text{New savings} - \text{Current savings} = 840 - 756 = 84 \]

Marcus will be saving $84 more each month.


Summary of the results:

  • (a) Amount for entertainment: $210
  • (b) Percent spent on food: 11.43%
  • (c) Additional savings: $84