Elyse, Emily and Jane bought a present for their uncle. They shared the cost equally between them. Elyse used ⁵₉ of her savings, Emily used ³₄ of her savings and Jane used ¹₇ of her savings. Elyse and Jane had $204 left. How much did each girl pay for the present?
The amount spent by each girl is the same.  Make the numerators the same.
LCM of 5, 3 and 1 = 15

5x39x3 of Elyse's savings = 3x54x5 of Emily's savings = 1x157x15 of Jane savings
1527 of Elyse's savings = 1520 of Emily's savings = 15105 of Jane's savings

	Elyse	Emily	Jane
Before	27 u	20 u	105 u
Change	- 15 u	- 15 u	- 15 u
After	12 u	5 u	90 u

Savings that Elyse had left
= 27 u - 15 u
= 12 u

Savings that Jane had left
= 105 u - 15 u
= 90 u

Total savings that Elyse and Jane had left
= 12 u + 90 u
= 102 u

102 u = 204

1 u = 204 ÷ 102 = 2

Amount that each girl paid
= 15 u
= 15 x 2
= $30

Answer(s): $30