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# If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did  Question banks Downloads My Bookmarks Reviews Important topics Author Message TAGS: Math Expert Joined: 02 Sep 2009 Posts: 16863 Followers: 2777 Kudos [?]: 17630 [0], given: 2232 If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  30 Jul 2012, 01:23
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If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did Pat earn last month? (1) Pat spent 1/2 of his earnings last month for living expenses and saved 1/3 of the remainder. (2) Of his earnings last month, Pat paid twice as much in taxes as he saved. Practice Questions Question: 10 Page: 275 Difficulty: 650 [Reveal] Spoiler: OA _________________ Math Expert Joined: 02 Sep 2009 Posts: 16863 Followers: 2777 Kudos [?]: 17630 [1] , given: 2232 Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  05 Oct 2012, 03:30
1
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Expert's post
vinnik wrote:
Hi Bunuel,

I was just researching on this question and got your explanation. I got why (A) is correct. But I didn't understand B. I thought (B) was also the correct answer, so eventually i selected D, which was incorrect.

So, here's my reasoning for (B). I want to know where i am going wrong.

Pat saved $600, and paid$1200 for taxes. If Earnings= Taxes + Savings, then Earnings= $1800. Were there any expenses that i could have assumed in (B) ? Because in (A), the explanation says there were expenses, so (A) is clear. Thanks & Regards Vinni (2) is not sufficient because we don't know how much of his earnings last month Pat spent for living expenses. _________________ Math Expert Joined: 02 Sep 2009 Posts: 16863 Followers: 2777 Kudos [?]: 17630 [1] , given: 2232 Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  05 Oct 2012, 05:24
1
KUDOS
Expert's post
vinnik wrote:
Bunuel, I got your point. But one more question. As it is a DS question, we are not given anything about expenses in B. So, why there is a need to assume living expenses.

Regards
Vinni

It's the other way around: if you are saying that (2) is sufficient, then you are assuming that there are no living expenses at all. Plus, assuming that is against common sense and the first statement.
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Re: If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink] 31 Oct 2013, 00:34 1 This post received KUDOS Expert's post PatrickS wrote: Bunuel wrote: SOLUTION If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did Pat earn last month?

Let E be Pat's earnings last month.

(1) Pat spent 1/2 of his earnings last month for living expenses and saved 1/3 of the remainder. Pat spent \frac{E}{2}, so E-\frac{E}{2}=\frac{E}{2} remained. We are told that 1/3 of that amount, or \frac{E}{6}, was saved. Since we know that Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, then we have that \frac{E}{6}=600 --> E=3,600. Sufficient. (2) Of his earnings last month, Pat paid twice as much in taxes as he saved. Since Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, then he paid 2*$600=$1,200 in taxes. But this info is not sufficient to determine Pat's earnings last month.

Why are we assuming that their are no other expenses per month than living expenses?

I got E simple because i told myself the following:
Expenses (per month) = Living Expenses + Utility + mortgage + Car Lease...etc
1) only gave us the living expenses (i.e.: food and beverages???)

Am I over assuming things?

We are not assuming that. Stem says that Pat saved $600. Next, (1) says that Pat spent half of his earnings on something and saved 1/3 of the remainder (so Pat saved 1/3 of the remaining half of his earnings). This implies that 1/3*(earnings/2)=600 --> earnings=3,600. Hope it's clear. _________________ Math Expert Joined: 02 Sep 2009 Posts: 16863 Followers: 2777 Kudos [?]: 17630 [0], given: 2232 Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  30 Jul 2012, 01:23
Expert's post
SOLUTION

If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did Pat earn last month? Let E be Pat's earnings last month. (1) Pat spent 1/2 of his earnings last month for living expenses and saved 1/3 of the remainder. Pat spent \frac{E}{2}, so E-\frac{E}{2}=\frac{E}{2} remained. We are told that 1/3 of that amount, or \frac{E}{6}, was saved. Since we know that Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, then we have that \frac{E}{6}=600 --> E=3,600. Sufficient.

(2) Of his earnings last month, Pat paid twice as much in taxes as he saved. Since Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, then he paid 2*$600=$1,200 in taxes. But this info is not sufficient to determine Pat's earnings last month. Answer: A. _________________ Manager Joined: 28 Sep 2011 Posts: 68 Location: United States GMAT 1: 520 Q34 V27 GMAT 2: 550 Q V GMAT 3: 690 Q47 V38 GPA: 3.01 WE: Information Technology (Commercial Banking) Followers: 1 Kudos [?]: 14 [0], given: 9 Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  30 Jul 2012, 19:41
I'm going to go with
[Reveal] Spoiler:
A
.

He spent 1/2 of his earnings and he saved 1/3 of the remaining 1/2 --> 1/6E = 600
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Re: If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink] 31 Jul 2012, 01:32 The question asks us to find the Pat's earnings. Let us assume the Variable E for his earnings. Statement (1): From the Information given we can set up the equation: (1/3) (E*(1/2))= 600. E can be calculated (E= 3600). -> SUFFICIENT Statement (2): This statement only tells us that the amount of tax he payed was twice the amount of money he saved. This information does not help us calculate Pat's earnings.-> NOT SUFFICIENT Ans(A). Math Expert Joined: 02 Sep 2009 Posts: 16863 Followers: 2777 Kudos [?]: 17630 [0], given: 2232 Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  03 Aug 2012, 05:24
Expert's post
SOLUTION

If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did Pat earn last month? Let E be Pat's earnings last month. (1) Pat spent 1/2 of his earnings last month for living expenses and saved 1/3 of the remainder. Pat spent \frac{E}{2}, so E-\frac{E}{2}=\frac{E}{2} remained. We are told that 1/3 of that amount, or \frac{E}{6}, was saved. Since we know that Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, then we have that \frac{E}{6}=600 --> E=3,600. Sufficient.

(2) Of his earnings last month, Pat paid twice as much in taxes as he saved. Since Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, then he paid 2*$600=$1,200 in taxes. But this info is not sufficient to determine Pat's earnings last month. Answer: A. _________________ Manager Joined: 14 Dec 2011 Posts: 66 Followers: 0 Kudos [?]: 6 [0], given: 66 Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  05 Oct 2012, 03:20
Hi Bunuel,

I was just researching on this question and got your explanation. I got why (A) is correct. But I didn't understand B. I thought (B) was also the correct answer, so eventually i selected D, which was incorrect.

So, here's my reasoning for (B). I want to know where i am going wrong.

Pat saved $600, and paid$1200 for taxes. If Earnings= Taxes + Savings, then Earnings= $1800. Were there any expenses that i could have assumed in (B) ? Because in (A), the explanation says there were expenses, so (A) is clear. Thanks & Regards Vinni Manager Joined: 14 Dec 2011 Posts: 66 Followers: 0 Kudos [?]: 6 [0], given: 66 Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  05 Oct 2012, 03:49
Bunuel wrote:

(2) is not sufficient because we don't know how much of his earnings last month Pat spent for living expenses.

Regards
Vinni
Manager
Joined: 14 Dec 2011
Posts: 66
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Kudos [?]: 6 [0], given: 66

Re: If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink] 05 Oct 2012, 05:21 Bunuel, I got your point. But one more question. As it is a DS question, we are not given anything about expenses in B. So, why there is a need to assume living expenses. Looking forward to your reply. Regards Vinni Manager Joined: 14 Dec 2011 Posts: 66 Followers: 0 Kudos [?]: 6 [0], given: 66 Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  05 Oct 2012, 05:47
Bunuel wrote:
It's the other way around: if you are saying that (2) is sufficient, then you are assuming that there are no living expenses at all. Plus, assuming that is against common sense and the first statement.

Hmm. okay. I got your point.
Thanks
Vinni
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Re: If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink] 30 Oct 2013, 18:59 Bunuel wrote: SOLUTION If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did Pat earn last month?

Let E be Pat's earnings last month.

(1) Pat spent 1/2 of his earnings last month for living expenses and saved 1/3 of the remainder. Pat spent \frac{E}{2}, so E-\frac{E}{2}=\frac{E}{2} remained. We are told that 1/3 of that amount, or \frac{E}{6}, was saved. Since we know that Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, then we have that \frac{E}{6}=600 --> E=3,600. Sufficient. (2) Of his earnings last month, Pat paid twice as much in taxes as he saved. Since Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, then he paid 2*$600=$1,200 in taxes. But this info is not sufficient to determine Pat's earnings last month.

Why are we assuming that their are no other expenses per month than living expenses?

I got E simple because i told myself the following:
Expenses (per month) = Living Expenses + Utility + mortgage + Car Lease...etc
1) only gave us the living expenses (i.e.: food and beverages???)

Am I over assuming things?
Intern
Joined: 15 Mar 2013
Posts: 23
WE: Information Technology (Consulting)
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 8 [0], given: 6

Re: If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink] 31 Oct 2013, 09:30 Thank you B, just another simple question that i over analyzed Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did   [#permalink] 31 Oct 2013, 09:30
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