<prompt> Human: My mother is in her early 70s, a recent cancer survivor. She lives alone, fairly cheaply, 725 Florida rental, no car, 300 in home services, some co-pays on followup cancer care. Her 1500 in SS would normally be enough to cover these expenses. She has a friend in Europe she goes to visit yearly though, and spends heavily on these vacations, building up considerable CC debt on a pair of cards 4K and 5.5K, 14 interest, maxed out both. Shes used 401K and savings to pay for other past trips - all gone now. Shes kept quiet about the CC debt until now, revealing that shes been paying a little more than the minimum monthly in recent months, and has essentially maxed them out. Shes asked for help: 400 a month to allow her to further pay down these cards, as she plans to move the balance of one to a new temporary 1 year no-interest CC. That sounds like a shell game though, and the interest will just accrue so she gets hit with it again at the end of the year. I think shell just use the money to build up for another Europe trip.I can afford to do the 400, and even could afford to pay off one or both CCs it would hit my savings, but really a minor hit. I would like to help, but Im worried that if I do, the same thing will happen in a year or two, as she considers her Europe trips a mandatory expense. What should she do? What should I do?  <response>: It sounds like your Mother has no assets and no income other than Social Security. She is likely Judgement Proof You should probably not insert yourself into this situation. 