A Barber (friseur) from Béts moved to Debretzen to continue his trade; but he became impoverished within 3 years, although he had some money. In the first year, he was forced to spend half of his money, in the second year, a third of what he had brought; in the third year, 200 forints, when he only had $50 \mathrm{Ft}$ left for the return trip: - how many forints did he have when he moved; and how much did he spend each year?
Suppose he had $x$ forints, then according to the problem

$$
x-\frac{x}{2}-\frac{x}{3}-200=50
$$

from which

$$
x=1500 \text {. }
$$

So he had 1500 forints and spent 750 in the first year, and 500 forints in the second year.

Mentally: Since $\frac{1}{2}+\frac{1}{3}=\frac{5}{6}$, at the end of the second year, he still has $\frac{1}{6}$ of his money left, which according to the problem is 250 forints. Therefore, $6 \cdot 250=1500$ forints he had.

Árkossy Ottó (Csongrád, Bacsányi János g. I. o. t.)