To set up the inequality based on Sarah's situation, we begin by calculating the total amount she has available to spend on candy after applying the coupon.
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Sarah has a budget of $26 and a coupon for a $5 discount, so her effective spending is: \[ 26 - 5 = 21 \]
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Let \( x \) be the number of candy items she wants to buy, and since each item costs $3, her total spending before the discount can be represented as \( 3x \).
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The amount she can spend after applying the $5 discount should be less than or equal to her effective spending, which gives us the inequality: \[ 3x - 5 \leq 26 \]
Thus, the matching inequality for Sarah's situation is: \[ 3x - 5 \leq 26 \]
So the correct option is: 3x - 5 ≤ 26