How do people run out of food stamps?

[CW&M Mom]

Originally Posted by manders13 I think it would be easy to spend that type of money, Thinking a load of bread is 1.50 gallon of milk almost $5.... I don't know whats covered under food stamps, but is like toilet paper and stuff like that on there? Food is high enough but paper goods, OUCH!

Only food and no alcohol or ciggs ( at least it's supposed to be that way). You also can't get premade stuff at your grocery store like veggie trays or the cooked rotisserie chicken.

I've had water work and water not work when we were on them.

But no TP, women products, diapers, wipes, cleaning products ect...those your on your own.

[love2save]

I think each situtation is different. I know when my mom was on them she got $20. For a month! She had diabetes, heart disease, and was handicapped , so sometimes they are enough and sometimes not.Oh yeah, and social security turned her down many times because they said she could work. ( she had a stroke and was partially paralyzed, but yes, they wanted her to work). Amazing!

[momof2inohio]

I think it would be easy to go over that amount. Before I started couponing I spent well over $200 a week for a family of 4.

[Ggbwg]

Again we are back to where people WILL NOT, not that they can't they WILL NOT live within there means.

According to this if my family was to qualify we would get $ 668
Now there is no way my family ever qualifies for anything like this. I sometimes wish we could because it defiantly would help. But it is also nice knowing i don't have to rely on the goverment for help. NOT saying anything bad before anyone reads into this.

Anyhow, my family spends about $256.-$300 a month for 4. That's near 1/2 the amount a family of 4 would qualify for.

Originally Posted by Mothernature There are some honest FS recipients who have specific food requirements (like Diabetics, Celiac's disease, food allergies etc). The food costs would be higher. Based on previously threads, some of this waste appears to be poor money (or FS) management.

Now i agree w/ this a diet like that could make it harder to stretch the $$.

Originally Posted by cheapchick As if she would... I just wonder what would happen if someone asked for less? Prob the case worker would fall off her chair.

Yep i bet so

Originally Posted by cori n wes mom Only food and no alcohol or ciggs ( at least it's supposed to be that way). You also can't get premade stuff at your grocery store like veggie trays or the cooked rotisserie chicken. I've had water work and water not work when we were on them.

I've seen people buy those items on FS's here

My mom as well when i was in HS about age 15 she only got $20 a month. She had to drive 1/2 hr to get them and back so an hour time wasted and then she had to wait about 30 min there to pick them up. She finally said it was not worth it for her and asked them to take her off the program.

[faeryedark]

Originally Posted by Ggbwg Again we are back to where people WILL NOT, not that they can't they WILL NOT live within there means. According to this if my family was to qualify we would get $ 668 Now there is no way my family ever qualifies for anything like this. I sometimes wish we could because it defiantly would help. But it is also nice knowing i don't have to rely on the goverment for help. NOT saying anything bad before anyone reads into this. Anyhow, my family spends about $256.-$300 a month for 4. That's near 1/2 the amount a family of 4 would qualify for.

But a family of four would only qualify for that much if they had little to no income.
We generally spend $300/mo. and we qualify for $341..so, it works and I'm able to stock up on good meat deals and possibly other good deals , which will help for when we're no longer eligible.

[NIGHTB1022]

Originally Posted by manders13 I think it would be easy to spend that type of money, Thinking a load of bread is 1.50 gallon of milk almost $5.... I don't know whats covered under food stamps, but is like toilet paper and stuff like that on there? Food is high enough but paper goods, OUCH!

I was just in Aldi yesterday and the milk was $1.49 a gallon for whole milk as well as 2%. Bread is under a buck, I don't buy their bread 'cos I can't stand it.

No paper goods are covered.

The rule is If you cant eat it, you cant buy it.

BUT, you can use the FS card for ready made food as well, like fried chicken at the deli, not sure if you can use it at like a macdonalds or whatever.

Just going by what my friend who works for the State of Illinois told me.

[extechy]

Originally Posted by ASweetHeart I want some doritos and I miss Sati. Sniff....

Oh, goodness.

Whatever happened to her?

[cearhart]

I know her in washington you can not buy prepared food at all, only groceries. My food stamps do not work for deli but they do for bakery like a cake. My family gets $428.00 a month I use it very wisely and buy everything I need plus any deals I can catch here and there. I never have so much that I can donate anything except for snacks to the school but not like a huge excess to the food bank or anything. Before I stared using coupons my food stamps were gone in the first 2 weeks now I am scrambling to spend them all at the end of the month so I can understand. I am blessed that I get assistance so I try to make it go as far as I can. Thanks to everyone here I can make it quite well.

[nateNnatsmommy]

Put that in perspective - how hard do you work to use sales/coupons to spend so little each month?

People overpay for groceries with cash and credit as well as foodstamps. But there are also people who do very well (like all of us here) and make our cash, foodstamps, etc go as far as they can. We can't expect everyone to chase deals as hard/well as we all do. If they did, the deals would be harder to find.

Originally Posted by Ggbwg Again we are back to where people WILL NOT, not that they can't they WILL NOT live within there means. According to this if my family was to qualify we would get $ 668 Now there is no way my family ever qualifies for anything like this. I sometimes wish we could because it defiantly would help. But it is also nice knowing i don't have to rely on the goverment for help. NOT saying anything bad before anyone reads into this. Anyhow, my family spends about $256.-$300 a month for 4. That's near 1/2 the amount a family of 4 would qualify for.

[loaslaen]

Originally Posted by cheapchick I don't get it. Even prior to couponing, I could shop sales and Aldi's or Save-A-Lot and spend $100 a month for myself. With coupons I feed myself on $60 a month. If I were forced to spend $200 a month on food I could get organic and fresh seafood!

The average benefit per person is $101 per month. You feed yourself on $60 per month WITH coupons. Most people do not coupon, so the average FS recipient probably won't either. The average FS probably won't shop the sales either. Most will likely buy the majority of their groceries within a week of receiving their benefits. Most receive benefits in the first two weeks of the month. Most grocery stores have their sales at the end of the month, which means grocery prices will also be at their highest when FS recipients purchase their groceries.

You wouldn't get $200 a month unless you had $0 income coming in. Benefits depend on income and other expenses. There's not a once-size-fits-all chart.