Eli5 Why is a negative times a negative a positive?

Question

I’m thinking of it like money. If I owe 5.00 dollars and then a multiply my debt by 5 dollars, I should be in debt by 25 dollars right? But -5 time -5 is 25. Please help.

Edit: my example was wrong sorry.

Edit: I’m still so confused but I think I got it. If I owe someone a dollar (-1). But that person doesn’t exist (-1). Id have my dollar still. Is that right?

In: Mathematics

Answer 1

So if you owe 5 people 5 dollars you would be at -25 dollars. However the opposite of owing 5 people 5 dollars is 5 people owing you 5 dollars and therefore you are owed 25 dollars as in you will have positive 25 dollars (once you are paid)