This is why I majored in communication....

For years, I have been using calculators to figure out sale prices of clothes and for years, this is the formula I have been following:

P (price of item) x S (percentage of sale) = Y

P (price of item) - Y (amount off because of sale) = F (final price)

So for example, if a shirt I liked was originally $34 and is now marked down to $29.99 and you can take an additional 40% off of that:

29.99 x .40  = 12
29.99 - 12 = 17.99

I have never second guessed this formula; it always got me the right answer! And when dealing with Ann Taylor LOFT, the answer usually was, even after the sale, I still couldn't afford the item.

Well, I had a HUGE revelation today! I once again received the usual LOFT email promoting their sales and this one said you could get an additional 40% off already discounted sale items, which means they might finally be in my price range -not that I really NEED any new clothes at this time, but a sales a sale and I owe it to myself to look, right?

So I started perusing the sale items (electronically, of course) today (during my lunch break, of course) and was using the calculator on the computer with my formula shown above (as usual) to figure out how much the items would actually be after the sale. That is when the revelation happened.

If the sale is 40% off, that means I'll be paying 60% of the item. So why do I need to do two steps on the calculator (using above formula) when I could simplify it to just one step using the following (revised) formula:

P (original price of item) x A (actual percentage I'll be paying) = Y

Using the example of the $29.99 shirt with the 40% off sale, mentioned above, the new formula looks like this:

29.99 x .60 = 17.99

Wow. This is such a big deal for me. It might seem like small potatoes to you, but this has been a life changing experience for me. Imagine how much faster I can now calculate sale items! I do have to say, I believe Pat tried to teach me this method several years ago and it just didn't make sense to me until now. I guess I had to figure it out on my own and of course it had to pertain to shopping.

If only my math classes were stretched out over several years and all the lesson plans would have pertained to shopping and used the keywords "shopping" and "sale items" and "percentage off." I think it all would have made sense then. Hey, we all learn at different paces. When it comes to math, mine happens to be more of a glacial pace. But now that I've got it, I've got it!

I have also recently learned (within the last year) how to calculate 20% tips in my head. Again, Pat has been trying to teach me for five years, but it didn't click until my friend's boyfriend (now fiance) explained it to me while we were in Boston. It's actually kind of a funny story because Pat was sitting right there when Tyler was explaining it to me and the light bulb went off and it finally made sense. Pat was so mad! He couldn't understand why it didn't make sense when he had been explaining it to me the exact same way (so he claims) for five years. I don't have a good answer but I do know that he loves it when I say to him, "Remember when Tyler taught me how to calculate tips?"

Anyway, I don't want to get too ahead of myself here, but there's an opening for a math teacher at the school and with all my new found math skills, I'm thinking about applying. I feel I owe it to the future shoppers out there to share my knowledge.