Smart Sale Shopper Quiz (Free Printable)

Black Friday is still a few days away, but some specials are starting early. So we want to help you prepare for the biggest shopping day of the year in two ways:

First, by reminding you to sign up for a free Rakuten account if you’ve not already done so. To maximize your savings, do it now, before you do anymore online shopping. Install Rakuten’s browser button to be automatically notified when stores you are shopping offer cash back.

Then, just click to activate, and start earning cash back (sometimes as much as 40%) on online purchases from many of the stores you already shop at, including Walmart, Walgreens, Sam’s Club, CVS, Macy’s, Target, Expedia, Groupon, and over 800 more. Prefer shopping in person? You can even earn cash back on many in-store purchases. Join today, and watch your savings start to snowball:

BONUS: for a limited time, new members will earn a $40 cash back bonus on their first qualifying purchase. There’s never been a better time to sign up!

The second way we want to help you get ready for Black Friday? With our brand new smart sale shopper quiz.

Most of the free printable party games I’ve shared over the years are language-based. That’s all fine and good for verbal-reasoners, but word games can put math- and science-brained folks at a disadvantage. So here’s one especially for the STEM set. The world definitely needs both kind of thinkers!

It is always surprising to me how many people have a hard time computing percentages, so I made a little practice sheet to give to my algebra students at our homeschool co-op. But I decided to post it here, as well.

Additionally, I’ll be reviewing in class the following tips for computing percentages (and sale prices) quickly, easily, and accurately. That way, you’ll be able to figure out precisely how much you’ll be spending/saving, no matter what percentage-off is advertised!

• To compute 10% of a number, simply move the decimal point over to the left one space. (Example: 10% of $12.50 is $1.25.)
• Fifty percent is another name for 1/2, so to calculate 50% of a number, just cut it in half. (Example: 50% of $16 is $8.)
• Twenty-five percent is another name for 1/4, so to find 25% of a number, cut it in half, then in half again. (Example: 25% of $20 is half of $10, which is $5.)
• To compute 20%, 30%, or 40%, move the decimal over one space to the left, then multiply by 2, 3, or 4, respectively.
• Calculate 60%, 70%, 80%, or 90% in the same way: by multiplying 10% of the number by 6, 7, 8, or 9, respectively.
• Instead of calculating the savings and subtracting it from the original price, you can save a step by just calculating the sale price directly. (Example: If something that normally costs $10 is 40% off, that means you’ll be paying 60% of the original price. So instead of thinking 40% of $10 is $4 and subtracting that amount from $10 to get the sale price of $6. Just think, 60% of $10 is $6, so that’s the price you’ll pay.)
• My mom and I used to shop a craft store that reduced all their Christmas merchandise by 90% the day after Christmas, which means we only had to pay 10% of the original price. So, if my cart total was $68.73, instead of finding 90% of that and subtracting the savings from $68.73, we simply moved the decimal price one place to the left and immediately knew the sale price would be $6.87– easy as pie!