Let's first set her monthly food budget to a variable, x, and her monthly payment, y.
Pam's monthly food budget (x) is equal to (=) 40% (40/100) of her monthly rent payment (40/100 multiplied by y).
So our equation is x = 40y/100, which simplifies to:
x = 2y/5
It is given that her food budget is $200, which is the x-value. So we plug that into the equation, to give us:
200 = 2y/5
Now when solving for y, you will find out what her rent payment is each month, which is what the question asks for.
200 * 5 = 2y/5 * 5
1000 = 2y
500 = y
Therefore, her rent payment each month is $500.
