On February 1, the Miro Company needs to purchase some office equipment. The company is short of cash and expects to be short for several months. The treasurer has said that he could pay for the equipment as follows. April 1 $150 June 1 $300 Aug 1 $450 Oct 1 $600 Dec 1 $750 A local office supply firm will agree to sell the equipment to Miro now and accept payment according to the treasurers schedule. If interest will be charged at 3% every 2 months, with compounding once every 2 months, how much office equipment can the Miro Company buy now? What is the effective interest rate?