I believe that Mr.Scruggs got $225 for his birthday, if my math is correct of course. :) I hope this helps! Have a great day!
Each successive term is 3 times the previous one, so you could write the sum as
2x+3x+4 is equivalent with 5x+4 and 3(4x+2) is equivalent to 12x+6 and then the last two
57.80 - 4.07
= 57.80 - 4.00 - 0.07
= 53.80 - 0.07
= 53.73
7/8 x = 21
7x = 21×8
7x = 168
x = 24