Question: Knowing that home ownership is a good step toward a sound financial future, Jeremy and Catherine are excited about buying their first home. They saved and lived frugally the first four years of their marriage and added their savings to the money they received as wedding gifts. They are now ready to pay $20,000 toward their down payment. The house they are buying is in Lakeland, a good family-oriented location, and the results of a home inspection indicate that the house is built soundly. The foundation and roof are in good repair, but they would like to make several improvements on the home in the near future. The mortgage payments on their new home fit well within their budget, but they want to make certain they can afford the improvements as well. Their first-priority improvement is to replace the carpeting. Jeremy recognized that their house was priced below market because the sellers knew the carpeting would need to be replaced. Catherine also knows that should they want to sell their home in the foreseeable future, nice carpeting would help the resale value and perhaps help it to sell more quickly. Their plan is to recarpet the three bedrooms, the living room, and the hallway. The area is found by multiplying length by width.

The result is "square feet" and is written ft . The dimensions of the rooms are as follows:

1. Find the area of each room and record your results in the chart above.

2. Jeremy and Catherine have comparison shopped the carpet retailers in their area. Because Lowe's can guarantee completion of the carpeting job within a week of the home's closing, Jeremy and Catherine have decided to buy their carpet from Lowe's. Although they have not yet decided on a color, the grade of carpet Jeremy and Catherine are interested in costs $36 a square yard. How much does it cost per square foot? Hint: There are 9 square feet in a square yard.

3. How much will it cost to carpet the areas listed above, and what percentage of the total cost does each room represent? Report your answers by room in the chart above; determine the total cost, and the percentage of total cost for each room. Round to one-tenth of one percent.

4. Lowe's is offering Jeremy and Catherine a 10% discount if they carpet the whole area with the same color carpet. How much will they save if they decide to do this?