What can you buy with an EBT card?

[monkeyboy]

Just saw a sign at the gas station/convenience store on almost everything that said : "EBT card approved"

 

[bombygriz]

It's food stamps, you can basically buy anything food with it. Unfortunately, I see so many people buying candy and soda with it at convenience stores...sometimes for their kids...

 

[Malibustyle23]

No toiletries, diapers, etc only food. Pretty much ANY food item you find in the grocery store (or other stores). Supposedly not "prepared hot foods" but I've seen it go through also. From produce to canned soup to frozen meals to fix your own salad bar to chips and sodas, anything.

 

[MomRN]

No toiletries, diapers, etc only food. Pretty much ANY food item you find in the grocery store (or other stores). Supposedly not "prepared hot foods" but I've seen it go through also. From produce to canned soup to frozen meals to fix your own salad bar to chips and sodas, anything.

That pretty much sums it up.

 

[jandel]

No toiletries, diapers, etc only food. Pretty much ANY food item you find in the grocery store (or other stores). Supposedly not "prepared hot foods" but I've seen it go through also. From produce to canned soup to frozen meals to fix your own salad bar to chips and sodas, anything.

Yep - at the last C-Store chain I managed they started taking them. At least once a day someone would get a burrito or pizza out of the cooler and proceed to microwave it. Then, when they would come to the register and whip out their EBT card my clerks would have to take decline the sale and remove the product out of the customer's reach (just like you do when someone underage tries to buy beer.) Customer would then proceed to have a fit whereas if they had just left it cold it would have been fine to sell to them.

Or they would grab a hotdog off the roller, fix it up and start to eat it as they walked throught the store. Same thing at the register but by then it was half-eaten and what could you do? BTW, this was a favorite tactic of the local homeless population.

After a few weeks of this (multiplied across the entire chain) and many calls to the local police to deal with the belligerent customers, the higher-ups finally listened and stopped taking them. Too much lost profit and aggravation. And really - the cheapest "grocery" item we had was a pint of mayo for about $3.00!

 

[merrily]

Just saw a sign at the gas station/convenience store on almost everything that said : "EBT card approved"

No toiletries, diapers, etc only food. Pretty much ANY food item you find in the grocery store (or other stores). Supposedly not "prepared hot foods" but I've seen it go through also. From produce to canned soup to frozen meals to fix your own salad bar to chips and sodas, anything.

Actually, what Malibu says is not entirely true. An EBT card is an electric benefits card. In NH, if a person receives SNAP benefits (the new name for food stamps) and TANF benefits (also known as welfare money), they use their EBT to access the money that is in their TANF account. You can use that money for anything you want. Withdraw it as cash, pay your rent, buy diapers, buy drugs, whatever.

 

[PatsMom]

Also, according to my niece's boyfriend who worked in a convenience store, people just ask them to ring up forbidden items as a grocery item. Then the EBT works and the item is paid for by food stamps. Some stores would even ring up beer as grocery.

 

[bombygriz]

Actually, what Malibu says is not entirely true. An EBT card is an electric benefits card. In NH, if a person receives SNAP benefits (the new name for food stamps) and TANF benefits (also known as welfare money), they use their EBT to access the money that is in their TANF account. You can use that money for anything you want. Withdraw it as cash, pay your rent, buy diapers, buy drugs, whatever.

Also, according to my niece's boyfriend who worked in a convenience store, people just ask them to ring up forbidden items as a grocery item. Then the EBT works and the item is paid for by food stamps. Some stores would even ring up beer as grocery.

Top comment+bottom comment=the sad reality in NH...I know a kid at my school whose parents buy beer and cigarettes with EBT...and give them to him.

He brags about it because he can't really get caught and I've seen them buying. Unfortunately, students can't report other students for drugs/alcohol/cigarettes.

 

[mpls_mm]

The technical definition is food that is intended to be eaten at home. But each store defines it differently. The burrito used as an example that was in the freezer case is fine, but once it gets heated it is intended for immediate consumption. Some stores don't allow anything from the deli except lunchmeat, no salads etc. I see that now Papa Murphys advertises they take EBT, because thats eaten at home, but Pizza Hut can;t because it's for immediate consumption.

 

[Sparx]

No toiletries, diapers, etc only food. Pretty much ANY food item you find in the grocery store (or other stores). Supposedly not "prepared hot foods" but I've seen it go through also. From produce to canned soup to frozen meals to fix your own salad bar to chips and sodas, anything.

When they say no "prepared" food they mean food that you expect to eat while in the store. Like my grocery store has a food court. Someone on EBT could not buy their meal with the card. You cannot eat at a restaurant with the card.

You can buy seeds, most foods (no alcohol, no energy drinks) and food like milk, eggs, and fresh produce are also on WIC.

 

[merrily]

The technical definition is food that is intended to be eaten at home. But each store defines it differently. The burrito used as an example that was in the freezer case is fine, but once it gets heated it is intended for immediate consumption. Some stores don't allow anything from the deli except lunchmeat, no salads etc. I see that now Papa Murphys advertises they take EBT, because thats eaten at home, but Pizza Hut can;t because it's for immediate consumption.

That's for SNAP(foodstamps), not neccessarily for EBT.

 

[mpls_mm]

That's correct, sorry, the cash assistance part of EBT can be used anywhere, You can withdraw from at ATM at the strip club or casino (some states are discussing making that off limits) In our state it works like any debit card, you can buy gas, adult movies, anything. The cash is yours to use how you see fit. The food card part has more restrictions.

 

[zurgswife]

Just saw a sign at the gas station/convenience store on almost everything that said : "EBT card approved"

Food items but nothing prepared ie. roasted chickens, pizza they make on site, subs/hoagies etc. If it is prepare on site it can not be purchased with an EBT card

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Top comment+bottom comment=the sad reality in NH...I know a kid at my school whose parents buy beer and cigarettes with EBT...and give them to him.

He brags about it because he can't really get caught and I've seen them buying. Unfortunately, students can't report other students for drugs/alcohol/cigarettes.

That's a crime though, not a problem with the EBT card system.

Sounds like they need a change in how children can/do report issues with other students. That warrants a call to CPS.

It's like saying you could sharpen your EBT card into a shank and use it to stab someone. Doesn't really mean the EBT card was poorly designed, just the human using it.

 

[wilkeliza]

I am a success story from a family that was on EBT (we had food stamps and I think some money to help for heat and electricity etc.) and I think the system needs to be reworked. My mother only used it for the necessities but with 3 growing kids and being a single working mother the money was never enough especially when she was out of work on short term disability for a few months. There were some tough times but my mom only used the money to buy our stuff for school and to get us good food so we didn't eat crap every day. She worked hard to get off of the assistance by working her way up as a teacher's assistant in our school.

I'm all for the system being revamped because back home in my neighborhood in TX you see it being abused all the time. The girls in my area are "trained" to get pregnant young so they can be on the program and can get whatever they want. So you see their kids running around in dirty clothes and broken shoes but then mom and boyfriend have iphones, new laptops, and an awesome car. It is sad to see a system that is meant to help people go to crab and back by the abusers of the program. My cousin and I are literately the only girls on our neighborhood who don't have babies and aren't on welfare and it has been that way since we were in high school.

 

[njmom47]

That's correct, sorry, the cash assistance part of EBT can be used anywhere, You can withdraw from at ATM at the strip club or casino (some states are discussing making that off limits) In our state it works like any debit card, you can buy gas, adult movies, anything. The cash is yours to use how you see fit. The food card part has more restrictions.

Yes, you can withdraw your cash EBT benefits and use them wherever you want.
And my dd gets some assistance and she did tell me some convenience stores do take EBT cards and some don't.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

It's food stamps, you can basically buy anything food with it. Unfortunately, I see so many people buying candy and soda with it at convenience stores...sometimes for their kids...

BIL and SIL buy lobster...Steak...

 

[Acklander]

Many times child support payments are loaded on the card, if the state has withheld the child support from someone's paycheck. That portion can be withdrawn or used on any thing as well. Some places they have it set up where prepared food can be purchased, mainly for homeless or families living in motels that dont have kitchen access. Personally, if I knew a store was accepting actual SNAP benefits for beer and cigarettes I'd report them. Watching it happen and saying nothing contributes to problem of abuse.

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

I am a success story from a family that was on EBT (we had food stamps and I think some money to help for heat and electricity etc.) and I think the system needs to be reworked. My mother only used it for the necessities but with 3 growing kids and being a single working mother the money was never enough especially when she was out of work on short term disability for a few months. There were some tough times but my mom only used the money to buy our stuff for school and to get us good food so we didn't eat crap every day. She worked hard to get off of the assistance by working her way up as a teacher's assistant in our school.

I'm all for the system being revamped because back home in my neighborhood in TX you see it being abused all the time. The girls in my area are "trained" to get pregnant young so they can be on the program and can get whatever they want. So you see their kids running around in dirty clothes and broken shoes but then mom and boyfriend have iphones, new laptops, and an awesome car. It is sad to see a system that is meant to help people go to crab and back by the abusers of the program. My cousin and I are literately the only girls on our neighborhood who don't have babies and aren't on welfare and it has been that way since we were in high school.

You should be proud of yourself for bucking the trend. I'm sure it wasn't an easy thing to do!

 

[tvguy]

I always am steamed when I see someone in the regular grocery store with EBT buying the name brand $4.99 gallon of milk instead of the $2.30 store brand gallon of milk in the regular grocery store. But I understand why they had to expand EBT to 7-11 type stores. In many low income neighborhoods where folks don't have cars, the quickie marts are the only grocery option, but an expensive one. The big grocery stores in low income areas just can't make a go of it, people can't afford to buy a lot of the high profit items the stores need to sell to stay in business, and shoplifting costs are through the roof.