well, heres my script <? $query = "select * from users where user_username = '$username'"; $result = mysql_query($query); while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) { $old_points = $row['user_points']; } $points = $old_points - 1000; $query = "UPDATE users SET user_points = '$points' WHERE user_username = '$user_name'"; $result = mysql_query($query); ?> 1.it sets the users points to -1000 when i want it to take away - 1000 from the original points 2. the variable $query is set before in the script, i tried putting $query1 in but it didnt make a difference if you need any more information just post it and i'll see what i can do while you see what you can do.