Two kirana shops close the week with these entries, money paid out being negative. Shop A: four payments of ₹85 each and one receipt of ₹300. Shop B: three payments of ₹120 each and one receipt of ₹250. Whose net change is the smaller integer?

Shop A: 4 × (−85) + 300 = −340 + 300 = −40. Shop B: 3 × (−120) + 250 = −360 + 250 = −110. Since −110 lies further left than −40, Shop B has the smaller net change. The trap is calling −40 'smaller' because ₹40 is a smaller sum of money — for negative integers, further from zero means smaller. The figure −640 comes from treating the ₹300 receipt as another payment.