diff --git a/bisectionsearch.py b/bisectionsearch.py
index 0001ad9..51fc842 100644
--- a/bisectionsearch.py
+++ b/bisectionsearch.py
@@ -8,16 +8,16 @@
 
 while lastGuessWas != 'c':
     guess = (high+low1)/2
-    print "Is your secret number " + str(guess) + "?"
+    print "Is your secret number {}?".format(guess)
     lastGuessWas = raw_input("Enter 'h' to indicate the guess is too high. Enter 'l' to indicate the guess is too low. Enter 'c' to indicate I guessed correctly. ")
-    if lastGuessWas != 'l' and lastGuessWas != 'h' and lastGuessWas != 'c':
+    if lastGuessWas not in ('l', 'h', 'c'):
         print 'Sorry, I did not understand your input.'
     elif lastGuessWas == 'l':
         low1 = guess
     elif lastGuessWas == 'h':
         high1 = guess
     elif lastGuessWas == 'c':
-        print "Game over. Your secret number was: " + str(guess)
+        print "Game over. Your secret number was: {}".format(guess)
 
 #minimum to pay off debt in 1 year
 
@@ -25,21 +25,18 @@
 high2 = (balance * (1 + monthlyInterestRate)**12)/12.0
 low2 = balance/12
 fixedPayment = (high2 + low2)/2
-searching = True
 
 def adequatePayment(balance,monthlyInterestRate,fixedPayment):
     '''
     balance - the outstanding balance on the credit card
     monthlyInterestRate -  monthly interest rate as a decimal
     '''
-    month = 1
-    while month <= 12:
+    for month in range(1, 12)
         balance -=  fixedPayment #Update the outstanding balance by removing the payment,
         balance += monthlyInterestRate*balance #then charging interest on the result.
-        month += 1
     return balance
 
-while searching:
+while True:
     z = adequatePayment(balance,monthlyInterestRate,fixedPayment)
     if  round(z) < 0:
         high2 = fixedPayment
@@ -48,8 +45,8 @@ def adequatePayment(balance,monthlyInterestRate,fixedPayment):
         low2 = fixedPayment
         fixedPayment = (high2 + low2)/2
     elif round(z) == 0:
-        searching = False
         print 'Lowest Payment:',round(fixedPayment,2)
+        break
 
 #check if a character is in a string with recursion
 
@@ -60,9 +57,8 @@ def isIn(char, aStr):
 
     returns: True if char is in aStr; False otherwise
     '''
-    low = 0
     high = len(aStr)-1
-    middle = (high + low)/2
+    middle = high/2
     if aStr == "" :
         return False
     elif len(aStr) == 1:
@@ -73,6 +69,3 @@ def isIn(char, aStr):
         return isIn(char, aStr[:middle-1])
     else:
         return isIn(char, aStr[middle+1:])
-
-
-