Astudent solved this problem by working backward. janice went shopping with her mom and at the end of the day she had $59.50 left over. she spent $13.65 on a t-shirt, $22.99 on some new sandals, and $40.75 on a new skirt. how much money did janice have at the beginning? student's solution - janice had $59.50 left. add up all the amounts she spent ($13.65 + $22.99 + $40.75) and add to the amount she has left over ($77.39 + $59.50). so janice had $136.89 to begin with. solve this problem. dale was fixing his fence. at the end of the day, he had 12.5 feet of wood left over. during the day he had used one 3.5 foot long piece of wood, two 5.9 foot long pieces of wood, and one 10 foot long piece of wood. how many feet of wood did dale have at the beginning of the day?