There is a sale on computers at your local comp2u. the gaming system that you are interested in has the latest intel quad core processor and duel nvidia geforce 9800s graphics card. the sale price on the computer is $1,500.00 plus 5.1% sales tax. your monthly gross salary is $2,500. how much will you have saved over a two month period and will you be able to afford the computer, given your monthly expenses total $1,250, social security is 6.2% of your biweekly income, medicare is 1.45% of your biweekly income, and you pay state and federal taxes in the amount of $45.00 and $89.51 biweekly respectively?

answer:

how come none of the graphics cards on this website are up to date with the time they are made?

step-by-step explanation:

If we are safe to assume that a month is 4 weeks, then in  one  month we earn a gross of 2500, or bi-weekly 1250.
social security: 1250 x 6.2% = 77.50.
medicare:           1250 x 1.45% = 18.125  ≈rounded to 18.13.
so in one month we are left with:
(gross) - (expenses) - (social sec) - (medicare) - (state+fed taxes) = net.
2500-1250-77.50-18.13-45-89.51 = 1019.86.
so after two months:
1019.86 x 2 = $2039.72

the computer costs 1500 + (1500 x 5.1%) = $1576.50

answer: we have saved $2039.72 and can afford the computer.

additional info:
these sorts of questions get really confusing really quickly, so break it down into parts:
a: work out social sec and medicare.
b: work out net salary (gross - all the payours).
c: work out how much saved after two months.
d: work out cost of computer.
e: compare c and d to see if you can afford.

also, check my maths for yourself with a calculator; like i said, these problems get messy quickly and one mistake at the start means all your other values are wrong!