Answer: Let's call Sarah's original amount of money as x. Then, Christine had 0.8x.
After they spent $684 altogether, Christine had 0.8x - 0.25(0.8x) = 0.8x - 0.2x = 0.6x left.
Sarah had x - 684.
Since Christine had thrice as much money left as Sarah, we can write an equation:
0.6x = 3(x - 684)
Expanding the right side of the equation:
0.6x = 3x - 2052
Solving for x:
2.6x = 2052
x = 787.69
So Sarah originally had 787.69 dollars and spent 787.69 - 684 = 103.69 dollars.
Explanation: