How much do I owe here?

I just had a major disagreement with my mom over how much money I owe her but let's see if anyone can see it from my point of view. Here's what led to this:

We decided to get Arby's today using some buy one get one free coupons. I had no cash money on me so my mom agreed to lay out for my half until I could go to the bank. We each paid separately in Arby's because we used two coupons. The reason for our disagreement has to do with buying cat litter at the store before going to Arby's.

Here are the specifics:

My mom gave me a $10 bill for the cat litter. The cat litter came to $4.97 total with the tax. She said to keep the change for now so I could pay in Arby's. At Arby's she paid the cashier $7.98 for the things she ordered. I used the change from the litter to pay the $4.65 total for my order, which means I had $0.38 of her original $10 bill left when all was said and done. The food was all split 50-50 so I agreed to pay half the total bill of $12.63, or $6.32 each. Now when my mom started figuring out how much I owed her, she said I owed $6.32 for Arby's plus the $5.03 change from the $10 bill she had given me to buy the cat litter with. I said I only owed $6.32 plus the $0.38 change I had left, or $6.70 total, since I used the change from the cat litter to pay for Arby's instead of giving it back to her before going to Arby's. Had I do so, she would have simply laid it out again to pay for my share of Arby's.

I'm reasonably sure I'm right here but maybe I'm missing something. Intuitively, if I gave her the $11.35 she said I was supposed to then she would not only be getting back the entire $10 bill she had originally given me, but also an extra $1.35.

Just give your mom the money and then a big hug for birthing you into this world.

Funny how a little thing called money, matters. My observations in the past with people I know are more like, there is no family or friends only—"You owe me money!" :huh:

I think give her 20 bucks tell her your sorry then remember that she is your Mom. I have no clue as to your age but if you live you will get as old as me and when your at 46 Momma's alot older and sometimes meaner(a lot meaner). That pal is when you should reflect on the Diapers she changed, the lunch money doled out (folks don't always have that laying around trust me on this one) she took care of you well enough and long enough for you to find this nice little spot on the web. Honor your parents. No matter how much you get ticked now you will likely miss them when they are gone. MY Mom and Dad are still living but I truly miss my INLAWS. Got on my nerves so bad I could only deal with them for an hour or two at best. Fact is I miss them now
I really do.
Topper

LifeNRA said:

Just give your mom the money and then a big hug for birthing you into this world.

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I appreciate the advice but an extra $5 in my position is a lot of money. Truth is neither of us is rich or we wouldn't have even been having the disagreement. I'm the one who in another thread mentioned walking 3 miles each way to the subway to save $2.50 a day when I used to work outside the home, and eating Ramen noodles for lunch. That's how bad things have been around here for a long time. We normally don't buy food out except when the places are offering specials.

Even putting aside whether or not the amount of money in question is important, I would like to know if I'm technically correct.

I agree completely with LifeNRA and Topper.

Topper said:

I think give her 20 bucks tell her your sorry then remember that she is your Mom. I have no clue as to your age but if you live you will get as old as me and when your at 46 Momma's alot older and sometimes meaner(a lot meaner).

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I'm 43 and my mom's 67. Again, I appreciate the advice but my money is tight with little hope of ever getting better. See this thread for one reason why. Every dollar I spend now means that I'll be one step closer to eating dog food when I'm 67 instead of Arby's as my mom did today. $20 is a small fortune to me right now.

Mum lends jtr $10
After paying for cat litter, jtr still owes mum $10 (Assuming cat litter cost wasn't shared)

Bill at Arby's came up to be $6.32 each, jtr pays $4.65 with loan earlier
After meal, jtr owes mum $10 + whatever extra mum has paid for the meal which is $6.32-$4.65 = $1.67. Total owed now is $11.67

Therefore the verdict is… Mummy is right after all!! In fact, she gave you a discount jtr. Hope that helps!

Giving up hope is not a good idea. I was in a car wreck 3 (i think ) years ago.
X-rays and MRI showed my neck was broken and my back broken in two places. I lost a day and a half of work over that. A day and a half (12 hours) I was cut back from a salary position to the stock room, why? Ha my neck was broke and my back, in two spots (I was a potential liability) Did I quit? No
I did not. I took a 30 percent cut in pay (to keep the insurance) and have been laid off on many Fridays due to "lack of work" Never give up, I don't
If your mom is 67 then give her the twenty and start trying the dog food with hot sauce a little at a time so when you get old you will be good to go on it. You Sir can do better if you try I honestly think that. If 5 bucks seems so critical in your life at this point then send me your pay pal addy and I will find five bucks to send you. My word on it.
Topper

NotEnoughLight said:

Mum lends jtr $10
After paying for cat litter, jtr still owes mum $10 (Assuming cat litter cost wasn't shared)

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My mom pays for all the cat expenses since they're her cats, not mine. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that point.

In that case, the total owed would be $11.67-$4.97 = $6.70.

For those who feel that we should not be so calculating with our loved ones, I feel the same way. However, I am merely showing what jtr is looking for - the amount owed. I would like to stress that this is done without any bias in mind. If i have offended anyone in showing these numbers, i am sorry.

hey jtr, I've got a trackman marble, optical trackball that will help your CTS, if you are right handed. it's really precise!

let me know and I will ship it to you at no charge. PM me with your shipping info.

also for CTS, steroid injections are available before you try surgery. since you nerves are getting compressed. one of two things has to happen to fix. inflamation has to be reduced to get rid of swelling and/or nerve tunnel opening has to be enlarged via surgery.

Your mom should get 5.03 (the change was her money) and 1/2 of the meal ($6.32)

The fact that you used HER money to pay for YOUR food still makes it YOUR debt.


Had you used HER money to pay for HER food your math would be correct.

Daniel

BTW; I learned long ago to never, ever borrow from family nor lend money to them. I freely give money as gifts when it's needed (if I can) but never expect it back. I'm not going to resent someone I love just because of money.

You owe your mom 11.35. It's easier to understand if you separate the two events (buying the litter, eating at Arby's).

Your mom gave you 10.00 to buy cat litter. She pays the full cost of the litter (4.97), so her change is 10.00 - 4.97 = 5.03.

You owe your mom for half the total cost of the meal. Half the cost is 6.32.

6.32 + 5.03 = 11.35.

Topper said:

If your mom is 67 then give her the twenty and start trying the dog food with hot sauce a little at a time so when you get old you will be good to go on it.

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:laughing: Nah, I'll stick to Ramen noodles instead. I hate to think what dog food plus hot sauce would do to my digestive system.

You Sir can do better if you try I honestly think that. If 5 bucks seems so critical in your life at this point then send me your pay pal addy and I will find five bucks to send you. My word on it.

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Thanks for the offer but I don't take charity from anyone barring my own family, nor would I apply for public assistance of any sort even if I qualified (which I don't). I know you're far from rich so I would never take advantage of your generosity. Send the $5 to LifeNRA if you feel you must give $5 to anyone. He has a lot greater need of it than I do. As for trying, I'm doing what I can right now (working part time at home doing things I can at least tolerate doing). Maybe it'll get better, maybe it won't. I'm not giving up hope, I'm just being realistic. As I said in that other thread, full-time work is out, and the only kinds of jobs people ever hire me for are crappy manual labor or technician jobs paying $8 an hour or less, and requiring constant use of your hands. I'd end up a cripple plus demoralized completely doing that kind of work for any length of time, and not much better off financially. Remember in another thread that I mentioned contemplating suicide last time I worked one of those stupid jobs. My mom has had carpal tunnel also, so she wasn't able to work since 1985. Now she just gets Social Security plus a very small pension. It's a shame we're both in the situation we're in, but that's life. Accept the hand you're dealt, and either deal with it or jump off a bridge.

I think you're all wrong!


Forget the kitty litter. Mom loaned you $5.03

Your half of the bill was $6.32, but you contributed $4.65 toward it, leaving a second loan of $1.67.

You owe her the original loan (what you did with it is immaterial) $5.03
Plus the second loan $1.67

You owe her $6.70.

To verify, do it backwards:

Your mom put in $10 + $7.98 = $17.98 (call it $17.99 because you rounded up a penny when you split the meal)

Her share is $6.32 + $4.97 for the kitty = $11.29

Total put in by mom = $17.99
Her share = $11.29

Your share is $17.99 - $11.29 = $6.70

Nikon and Gadget_lover, jtr already paid $4.65 for the meal out of what he borrowed from his mother. Although it was from the money which jtr borrowed, he did not further owe the $4.65 he paid.

Or am i wrong?

$6.32 - $5.03 = Your out of pocket cost $1.29.... your mom is right....

cy said:

hey jtr, I've got a trackman marble, optical trackball that will help your CTS, if you are right handed. it's really precise!

Click to expand...

I'm lefty so it wouldn't help but thanks. I tried a trackball once at my friend's taxi shop and really didn't care for it. My fingers were killing me after 5 minutes. Anyway, the PC really isn't a big problem for me since I'm only on it a few hours a day (at most) and usually just reading stuff rather than mousing or typing. What bothers me are the repetitive pushing, pressing, and scraping motions that you need to do on most types of jobs, or taking care of things around the house. Being on the computer 8 hours a day would bother me though.

also for CTS, steroid injections are available before you try surgery. since you nerves are getting compressed. one of two things has to happen to fix. inflamation has to be reduced to get rid of swelling and/or nerve tunnel opening has to be enlarged via surgery.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I remember that from the CTS thread I started. I hope in the next few years to maybe put aside enough money to have the condition medically looked at. Lately I'm starting to get numbness in my left foot. I hope this isn't something new but just muscular fatigue. Don't need any more problems now.

Ahh, I didn't read the original post correctly. Therefore 11.35 - 4.65 = 6.70.

But that still doesn't matter because the 4.65 was mom's money and he still owes it to her.

The debt is still 11.35.