Nicole used her credit card to buy a $1,255 mattress. Her credit card has an APR of 11.56%, compounded monthly, and the mattress was the only purchase on the card. Nicole paid off the mattress after two and a half years. If the sales tax in Nicole’s area is 9.08%, how much interest did Nicole pay in total? (Round all dollar values to the nearest cent.)

First include sales tax: $1,255 × 1.0908 = $1,368.95. The monthly interest rate is 0.1156 ÷ 12, and two and a half years is 30 months, so the balance is $1,368.95 × (1 + 0.1156 ÷ 12)^30 ≈ $1,825.13. Subtracting the original taxed cost gives about $456.18 in interest, which matches choice B, $456.20, to the nearest listed amount.

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