Tim bought 5 new baseball trading cards to add to his collection. The next day his dog ate half of his collection. There are now only 32 cards left. How many cards did Tim start with?

Tim started with 32 cards left after his dog ate half of his collection. Since his dog consumed half, he must have originally had 64 cards before the mishap. Adding the 5 new cards he bought brings the initial total to 59 cards. So, Tim started with 59 baseball trading cards. Remember, when you encounter problems like this, it's good to break it down step by step. First, determine how many cards were remaining before the dog ate them, and then include any new cards added to find the total. A common mistake is to forget to account for the new cards when calculating the original total!