You’ve probably come across this problem before: a cow changes hands, sums are added and subtracted, and at some point your head starts spinning. The solution seems obvious, but when you look closer, your confidence fades. But what if you use a simple and reliable method instead of intuition? Spoiler: you don’t have to be a mathematician – just lay out the steps in sequential order, like items in a checkout.
The main reason this problem is so confusing is that we confuse expenses (purchases) and income (sales). The brain gets fixated on big numbers, tries to add them all up, looks for hidden connections, and ultimately a logical error occurs. But each “purchase → sale” pair is a separate, completed transaction, and the profit is only calculated at the moment of sale.
To avoid confusion, it is important to remember: profit is the difference between what goes in and what comes out, but only within the framework of a fully completed transaction . A purchase in itself does not create profit – only a sale secures the result.
Let's break down the steps:
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You buy a cow for 800 euros. This is an expense – not a profit.
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You sell a cow for 1,000 euros. First completed transaction: 1,000 euros – 800 euros = +200 euros in profit .
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You buy another cow for €1,100. This is another expense – there is no profit, and the second cycle begins.
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You sell it for €1,300. Second completed transaction: €1,300 – €1,100 = +€200 profit
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