Final answer:
To calculate the new clothing budget after a 3% decrease, multiply the original clothing budget by 0.97 and round to the nearest dollar. Exact calculations cannot be done without knowing the initial budget.
Step-by-step explanation:
The scenario presented involves a family budget and calculating the impact of a change to it. To address the original question regarding the decrease in the clothing budget by 3 percent, we need additional information, such as the initial amount allocated for clothing. Once that value is known, we can calculate the decreased amount by multiplying the initial amount by 97% (or 0.97) to represent a 3% reduction. This new amount would represent what the family has to spend on clothing after the decrease. The answer would then be rounded to the nearest dollar to provide a practical figure for budgeting purposes.