Problem of the Week
Problem B and Solution
Dollars for College

Problem

Cassie starts college in the fall and has decided to live in an apartment. Her monthly living expenses are as follows:

If she attends school for $18$ months, what will be her total living expenses?
She has learned that her total college fees for the program will be $\$6769$. If she has $\$10\,400$ saved, how much more money will she need to pay her living expenses plus college fees?
Instead of taking out a loan to pay for her additional costs found in part (b), Cassie has decided to work part-time at the local bakery. If she earns $\$16$/hr, for how many hours will she need to work to pay for her additional costs? Round your answer to the nearest hour.
If Cassie works every week for the $18$ months she attends college, for how many hours per week will she have to work to pay for her additional costs? When answering this question, assume that there are four weeks in each month. Round your answer to the nearest hour.

Cassie’s monthly living expenses total $\$800+\$40+\$129+\$300=\$1269$. Thus, if she attends school for $18$ months, her total living expenses will be $\$1269\times 18=\$22\,842$.
Her total cost for college fees and living expenses will be $\$22\,842+\$6769=\$29\,611$. Thus, in addition to the $\$10\,400$ she has saved, she will need $\$29\,611-\$10\,400=\$19\,211$.
Working part-time at the local bakery at $\$16$/hr, she will need to put in $19\,211\div 16\approx 1201$ hours to pay for her additional costs.
Since she will work a total of $18\times 4=72$ weeks, and needs to put in $1201$ hours, she will need to work $1201\div 72\approx 17$ hours per week.