Help - embarrassed to ask !

cuffie

chipmunk wrote: »

Hi guys, tried all solutions, got the same answer. Can't thank you all enough. I feel so dumb:o

Thanks again. If I can ever return the favour, I'm good at spelling (not that any of you look like you need help).

Please don't feel dumb. I am crap at maths too. And I am good at spelling too! You can't be good at everything! Luckily, my husband fantastic with numbers and he is rubbish at spellings etc, so we make a good team!!:D

~Chameleon~

littleboo wrote: »

And a handy tip for working out what 17.5% vat is.

17.5 = 10 + 5 + 2.5 and 5 is half of 10 and 2.5 is half of 5

So you divide by 10, add half, then add half of the half

ie

VAT on £60 = 6 + 3 + 1.50 = £10.50

That's the way I work out VAT too

wildmandy

chipmunk wrote: »

I've never been good at maths (understatement of the year!) and my boss has just asked to me help out with some accounts tasks. :eek:
He wants me to work out percentages of some figures, i.e. 30% of £54,677. I said to him "I'm not very good with figures" but he replied "it's nothing too complicated, don't worry". Thing is, that is complicated for me.

Can some kind soul please help and tell me how to work this out on a calculator and please don't make fun of me, you can't be good at everything can you ?;)

Several have spoon-fed you and told you how. But to be honest, I am horrified that you don't know what a percentage is. Worse that you didn't even know how to "dummy" it by using a calculator.
Anyway, your boss must be a total idiot to ask you to work out what look like important figures, seeing you have zero idea. What a recipie for disaster!
Sorry if I sound harsh and I don't meant to be rude....but I just had to get this off my chest.
Mandy

MrsE_2

cuffie wrote: »

Please don't feel dumb. I am crap at maths too. And I am good at spelling too! You can't be good at everything! Luckily, my husband fantastic with numbers and he is rubbish at spellings etc, so we make a good team!!:D

I'm good at maths & I often have to check a spelling with DH.

MrsE_2

wildmandy wrote: »

Several have spoon-fed you and told you how. But to be honest, I am horrified that you don't know what a percentage is. Worse that you didn't even know how to "dummy" it by using a calculator.
Anyway, your boss must be a total idiot to ask you to work out what look like important figures, seeing you have zero idea. What a recipie for disaster!
Sorry if I sound harsh and I don't meant to be rude....but I just had to get this off my chest.
Mandy

Well it seems their boss didn't know how to do it either.
As it would have been just as quick for the boss to do it, as ask someone to do it:rolleyes:

boat_girl

wildmandy wrote: »

Several have spoon-fed you and told you how. But to be honest, I am horrified that you don't know what a percentage is. Worse that you didn't even know how to "dummy" it by using a calculator.
Anyway, your boss must be a total idiot to ask you to work out what look like important figures, seeing you have zero idea. What a recipie for disaster!
Sorry if I sound harsh and I don't meant to be rude....but I just had to get this off my chest.
Mandy

Sorry but maybe you should get some English lessons before you criticise other people.

I don't mean to be rude.... but I had to get this off my chest.

Inactive

wildmandy wrote: »

Several have spoon-fed you and told you how. But to be honest, I am horrified that you don't know what a percentage is. Worse that you didn't even know how to "dummy" it by using a calculator.
Anyway, your boss must be a total idiot to ask you to work out what look like important figures, seeing you have zero idea. What a recipie for disaster!
Sorry if I sound harsh and I don't meant to be rude....but I just had to get this off my chest.
Mandy

Itt wuld be grate iff weee culd al speeel perfek lik yu.:rolleyes:

blissfulbabe

Hi guys

before this develops into a flame war can I say that problems with maths is a HUGE problem amongst the general population - so much so that the government has made adult numeracy a priority.

I teach adults both literacy and numeracy and can honestly say that even the brightest, most able person can be absoloutely carp at maths. We don't know if it's down to poor teaching, bad experiences in the classroom or a general fear of maths (although recent research suggests that dyscalculia - "number blindness"- may be more common than dyslexia which affects 1 in 10 of the population).

I personally believe that blaming someone for their poor maths skills is like to saying to someone who has just been burgled, "What, you GAVE your all your stuff to a complete stranger???"

Not having good maths skills is not a character flaw or defect. But, saying that, if you know your maths skills are causing you problems then you really should do something about them. All colleges and local councils run free numeracy courses (which focus on the maths you need, so no trigonometry!) and most colleges also have staff who go into the workplace to help people improve their literacy and numeracy skills in their employers time. The classes are for adults only, normally small (we teach a maximum of six in our groups) and, most importantly, they are great fun!

I can't tell you the difference it can make to your self-confidence to be able to do maths - 14 years ago I was a single mum, on income support and sure that I didn't have a future. I did some literacy, numeracy and IT courses as a way of keeping busy as I also had quite bad depression. After the courses were over a tutor suggested that I applied for an Access course, which led to university, which eventually led to teaching - now I earn just over 30K but, more importantly, I am doing a job I love.

I'm not suggesting that doing a numeracy course will change your life but it could make it so much easier!:T


PS: The point of this posting was that we shouldn't be making moral judgements about someone just because they are not good with numbers!

southernscouser

newlywed wrote: »

I always get confused so:-

If you divide the figure (54,677) by 100 you get 1%

Then you times that figure by however many % you need (eg 30)

This is by far the easiest way to remember it.

Incisor

blissfulbabe wrote: »

... All colleges and local councils run free numeracy courses (which focus on the maths you need, so no trigonometry!) and most colleges also have staff who go into the workplace to help people improve their literacy and numeracy skills in their employers time.

Good write up, appreciated. Personally, I have never had a problem with math and use it for all sorts of things. But that is the key for me, if it is useful I can do it, but if I don't see an application for it, I let it pass.

What is useful depends on who you are and what you do. Which is why I disagree with you saying that trigonometry is not needed. If you are doing tiling or laying concrete or doing anything to do with filling shapes, geometry and a little bit of trigonometry can come in handy. Of course, if you don't do that stuff it is not so useful for you.

There may even be some gender bias here. I suspect that take up of these courses is lower for men - and it may be that the course is unintentionally biassed towards women's needs. I would say a bit of geometry would be really good for some men who work in certain jobs.