[2banana]

There's no question my wife, Amy, and I will give her the funds; she raised me and is, by and large, the woman I consider my mom. She has always been kind to Amy. If we have the discretionary cash that can make my grandmother's life happy, shouldn't we hand it over?

Real Happiness is affording your lifestyle. I would say - "Grandma - no problems helping you out. First, let us get an independent analysis of the situation from an out side source..."

And, yes, the trips to AC, cable and the AARP membership would be the first things on the "can live without" list.

[Publius Valerius]

and the AARP membership would be the first things on the "can live without" list.

I'm certainly no fan of AARP, but membership is something like $10 a year and it comes with a host of discounts. Assuming that grandma is actually using those discounts (and its something she'd be buying anyway), dropping AARP might be a losing proposition.

[Secret Agent Man]

I think your approach is reasonable and one that shows genuine concern for the grandmother’s real financial issues. After all, if the shoe was reversed and the grown child was asking for money, you’d naturally expect this to be the reaction from the parent. Yes, we’ll help, but part of helping you is figuring out why you’re having the problem and seeing what can be realistically done to minimize or eliminate it.