This actually seems to be a common confusion among players, and entirely my fault for not clearly communicating where your money (peels) are shown. The number on top of the peeled potatoes is just that: the number of peeled potatoes. Your money/peels are actually shown on the bottom left of the screen, next to the "peels/potato" indicator.
Hope this helps! Also happy that you still completed the game even with this frustration 😊🥔