Tax And Tip Algorithm

Although I do NOT have a Curta calculator, I have devised a simple solution for tax and tips. It is an extension on the percentage algorithm which is an extension of the multiplication algorithm (I personally cannot recall the steps, but I can give basic directions)

TAX- First, know the price of the object in question and the tax rate in question. Since tax is given in percent, and percent means per one hundred (i.e. 5% would be 5/100) simply move the position of the decimal in the value two place values to the LEFT (i.e. 5% would be 0.05). Be sure to write down the values as you go along. Multiply the price by the tax and write that value down. Then enter the two main values (price and tax calculation) and add them. For example, let's say that you are buying a computer game called The Sims (if the name doesn't ring a bell, then think Maxis, Sim City, or EA Games). For simplicity's sake, we'll round the shelf price off to twenty-five dollars ($25.00 (from the shelf price at Wal-Mart)). Because I live in Tennessee, I'll use its retail tax rate of seven percent (7%, 7/100, or 0.07). $25.00*0.07=$1.75. Thus, the main price is $25.00 and the tax amount is $1.75. $25.00+$1.75=$26.75. The total price is twenty-six dollars and seventy-five cents (assuming that that was all that you were purchasing from the store).

TIP- again, this is a modification of TAX. The curteous tip rate is fifteen percent (15%, 15/100, or 0.15) in the USA (I'm not sure what it is in other parts of the world). We'll use that as our example. Let's say you have a night on the town. You blew $100 or so at the local mall, payed $25 for a movie and an additional $15 for concessions. Afterwards, you decide to go eat at a restaurant with your family/date (depending on the situation that would be yielded at about 9:00-10:00 at night). After an hour or two, you request your check and discover that you wasted $30 just for the buffet at a Golden Corral. Fortunately for you, you have a nice, fat, round wallet of money. After calculating 15% of $30, you find that you'd be paying an additional $4.50 to the waiter. No big deal, it's just a little pocket change. After all, 15% isn't really that much. Let's use a more expensive example. You order six party-pack pizzas at $24 each for your children's birthday party (there were a lot of guests to be accomodated). You are perfectly aware that you are wasting $144 just so your children and their guests can have a little pizza. As you meander through your toy strewn house, you quickly calculate tip for the delivery man. You find it to be a staggering $21.60! After the party, you give your children a smaaaall talk about money...


Edit Text of this page (last edited July 18, 2006 by adsl-69-219-41-94.dsl.chcgil.ameritech.net)
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