A 68-year-old Hamilton grandmother depends on the charity of others to pay her bills every month.

She?s one of Bermuda?s 7,000 pensioners, half of whom receive just $767.43 a month as a basic contributory pension.

The fact she lives in a Bermuda Housing Corporation property is no consolation to her as her rent is $500 a month ? leaving her just over $267 a month for food and bills.

A diabetic, she admitted that if she had to choose between food and medication, she would go without medication.

In a tearful interview, the grandmother, who did not want to be identified, said she had applied for financial assistance, but was denied help because her grandson lives with her.

But she has no choice because he helps her pay the bills.

?For about three years, Financial Assistance told me to come in, but when they found out he lives here, they said I should charge him rent, but if I did that he would be worse off than me,? she said.

She added he did not earn much and also had two children to support.

To make some extra money, she used to baby-sit her grandchildren, but they returned to school recently.

?I told my grandson the other day that I had to pay the phone bill and the light bill and did not have enough money for groceries. So he offered to pay the light bill so I could get the few things I needed,? she said.

She said sometimes her friends would come around and help her out with ?a little money?, but because many of them were also receiving the basic contributory pension, they could not afford to do this too often.

She gets by with what she has because she has a choice.

When she found out she was diabetic a few years ago, she had to have a toe amputated.

?My feet went black,? she said, but she had no medical insurance.

Two operations later, her daughter had no choice but to pay off her mother?s $47,000 in medical bills.

Her daughter told that she had asked her mother to come live with her, but she had declined.

?She wanted her independence,? the daughter said, adding that she was also a widow but helped her mother out whenever she can afford too.

Her daughter pays for her mother?s diabetic supplies.

The grandmother said if her daughter and grandson did not help, she would have to go without her medication because she simply does not have the money.