Barbara, Vanessa and Pamela bought a present for their auntie. They shared the cost equally between them. Barbara used ³₈ of her savings, Vanessa used ¹₅ of her savings and Pamela used ⁵₉ of her savings. Barbara and Pamela had $74 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 3, 1 and 5 = 15

3x58x5 of Barbara's savings = 1x155x15 of Vanessa's savings = 5x39x3 of Pamela savings
1540 of Barbara's savings = 1575 of Vanessa's savings = 1527 of Pamela's savings

	Barbara	Vanessa	Pamela
Before	40 u	75 u	27 u
Change	- 15 u	- 15 u	- 15 u
After	25 u	60 u	12 u

Savings that Barbara had left
= 40 u - 15 u
= 25 u

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

Total savings that Barbara and Pamela had left
= 25 u + 12 u
= 37 u

37 u = 74

1 u = 74 ÷ 37 = 2

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

Answer(s): $30