I send my mum £500 every month and my boyfriend thinks I need to stop. I genuinely don't know who's wrong here.

I've been sending money to my mum since I got my first real job. Never missed a month. It's not even a conversation I have with myself anymore, it just goes out on the 1st like rent. She's not sick or in a crisis. She just doesn't have enough and I do. My boyfriend sat me down last week and said it's "not sustainable." He pulled up a spreadsheet, an actual spreadsheet!!! Like for real oo, on my funds? Showed me what we could save if I halved it. The numbers made sense, I won't lie, but then I thought about my mum and I couldn't finish the conversation. The thing is, nobody taught me this was optional. It wasn't a choice I made, it was just something you do. You leave, you make money, you send it back. That's the contract. He grew up differently tho. His parents don't want his money. They'd probably be offended if he offered. So I don't think he's being malicious, I just think he genuinely cannot understand why this isn't negotiable for me. Now I'm sitting here wondering, is it negotiable? Should it be? Is it a deal breaker in this relationship? Should it be?

Posted 19 April