What fraction of Alice's take-home pay did she save each month?

Question

Alice’s take-home pay last year was the same each month, and she saved the same fraction of her take-home pay each month. The total amount of money that she had saved at the end of the year was 3 times the amount of that portion of her monthly take-home pay that she did NOT save. If all the money that she saved last year was from her take-home pay, what fraction of her take-home pay did she save each month?
A. 1/2
B. 1/3
C. 1/4
D. 1/5
E. 1/6

Answer 1

I think this question is a bit easier if you pick a number of your own to help so that you don’t have to conceptualize the answer. For instance:

You know that she saves 3 times the amount of the monthly portion that she doesn’t save over a year.

So if she doesnt save $40 total out of each monthly paycheck, she will have saved $120 at the end of the year.

$120/12 is easy. she saves $10 a month.

add that to the $40 she did not save she made $50 each month

which mean she saves $10/$50, or 1/5 of her paycheck each month.

I hope that helps, but if you have any questions feel free to reach out