Food Stamp question

[jspoole]

How is the food stamp rates determined? It seems like that for most part the ones that don't work or have never worked get more a month than the people that have lost their jobs and are only using them till they can get a new job and go back to work.

Why I ask is because the checker at the grocery store and I were talking and she mentioned that she has never seen the likes of peoples food stamp totals as she has now. She has worked at our local owned grocery store here in town for years and she said it has gotten out of hand. She said one lady that comes in spend close to $400 yesterday in the store and her food stamp total was still at $2000 for the month. And an other lady that has been laid off from her job came in with the same about of children and they were talking and this lady only is able to get like $400 for the whole month. The cashier said that the only difference from looking from the outside is that the first lady has been on the system for serveral years and has never worked a job and the second lady is asking for a job everytime she comes in the store.

Just curious how the system works.

And here was the cashiers statement "I don't see how the country is going to survive much more of these hand outs. I work, and I do not spend near the amount of money on groceries a month as the goverment is handing out for free to these folks that havent even took the time to even look for a job"

 

[Hannathy]

How does the cashier know it was the total for the month? Here the total is a running total on the card, the other woman may have had 2,000 left on her card from previous months, not just that month. If she didn't use her whole allotment for the month it just stays on and the next month is added. You don't have to use your monthly allotment all in that month.

As far as I know it is the same formula depending on income and number of dependents.

 

[zurgswife]

It is a rolling total. Maybe for some reason the first person didn't use their card for many months which would explain the high balance.

 

[Colleen27]

The amount is based on family size and income less certain qualified expenses for housing/utilities. The maximum benefit for a family of 4 is $668.

The total that is printed at the end of the receipt is, as others have pointed out, a rolling total. Some families use every dime every month, others don't. For example, I have a friend who is a vegetarian with an infant (breastfed) and a toddler; when she was on assistance after her husband left she didn't even come close to using what she received. But another friend, a single mom with two teen boys, struggles with how to stretch hers to last the month even though her boys get free lunch at school and they have dinner at her parents' house once a week.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Why I ask is because the checker at the grocery store and I were talking and she mentioned that she has never seen the likes of peoples food stamp totals as she has now. She has worked at our local owned grocery store here in town for years and she said it has gotten out of hand. She said one lady that comes in spend close to $400 yesterday in the store and her food stamp total was still at $2000 for the month. And an other lady that has been laid off from her job came in with the same about of children and they were talking and this lady only is able to get like $400 for the whole month. The cashier said that the only difference from looking from the outside is that the first lady has been on the system for serveral years and has never worked a job and the second lady is asking for a job everytime she comes in the store.

And this is why I love self-checkout lines! No waiting behind gossiping cashiers discussing things which are none of their business and holding up the line.

 

[SenecaWolf]

Also take into consideration that the ones who haven't/don't work usually are on some form of cash assistance which isnt counted as as the same amount of income as someone who has lost their job and getting unemployment benefits.

 

[kt_mom]

And this is why I love self-checkout lines! No waiting behind gossiping cashiers discussing things which are none of their business and holding up the line.

Although it may be gossiping and it may be holding up the line, I wouldn't say its none of her business. After all she is helping to pay for those groceries.

 

[SenecaWolf]

Although it may be gossiping and it may be holding up the line, I wouldn't say its none of her business. After all she is helping to pay for those groceries.

 

[auger]

Although it may be gossiping and it may be holding up the line, I wouldn't say its none of her business. After all she is helping to pay for those groceries.

Yes, and when/if she loses her job, SHE'LL be the one on assistance and being judged as she goes through the line.

 

[luvsJack]

Its probably, like others have said, just the amount left over from previous months.

But, remember it always goes by the month before's income, so if someone got laid off in the middle of last month, the amount of this month's stamps would be dependent upon the income the person got last month.

 

[momto2inKC]

Although it may be gossiping and it may be holding up the line, I wouldn't say its none of her business. After all she is helping to pay for those groceries.

 

[RitaE]

> $2000 a month in food stamp benefits? - That must be a family size to rival the Duggars or Octomom.

I'm not sure how the cashier can even see a balance like that but remember those benefit cards are used for many things besides Food Stamps and many of them are not low income public assistance. For instance, many states that collect Child Support pass that money on to the parent via the same EBT card. Depending on the state, there can also be Unemployment, Disability - many other things.

 

[ccgirl]

Yes, and when/if she loses her job, SHE'LL be the one on assistance and being judged as she goes through the line.

Exactly.

 

[auger]

OP, there are many factors that go into play for FS.
Some people do not spend all of their money each month and the overage builds up on thier card.
Other times, people can end up with a large lump like that because of something that gets done incorrectly in the original calculations.

I know someone who was told her oldest son could not be claimed in her household because she had shared custody of him.
Almost a year later, they found out that was not correct.
They had to go back and recalculate her FS, and then gave her a lump payment for what she should have received all along.

She ended up with over $2000 on her card.
However, the previous year, when she wasn't getting the right amount, she was always short when she needed groceries.
So please don't judge a situation based on a tidbit of info some nosey cashier passed on to you.

 

[zurgswife]

Other times, people can end up with a large lump like that because of something that gets done incorrectly in the original calculations.

I know someone who was told her oldest son could not be claimed in her household because she had shared custody of him.
Almost a year later, they found out that was not correct.
They had to go back and recalculate her FS, and then gave her a lump payment for what she should have received all along.

She ended up with over $2000 on her card.
However, the previous year, when she wasn't getting the right amount, she was always short when she needed groceries.
So please don't judge a situation based on a tidbit of info some nosey cashier passed on to you.

I also was going to suggest this also...if they figure out back payments that were due they would credit the entire amount at one time which could lead to a large balance. Or if it took a long time to get your payment after filing it starts counting from when you file not when you are approved.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

Wow...some people have WAAAY too much time on their hands way up on those horses. The demographics of the Disboards never fail to make me wonder how some lead their lives on a daily basis.

 

[NotUrsula]

All of the above, plus another possibility is that not every card that she is using is her own. In areas where not a lot of people have transportation, it isn't uncommon for folks who do drive to do grocery shopping for neighbors and family members who do not. Elderly folks, especially, are likely to ask someone younger to do the shopping for them.

 

[The Princess]

Although it may be gossiping and it may be holding up the line, I wouldn't say its none of her business. After all she is helping to pay for those groceries.

 

[luvsJack]

Although it may be gossiping and it may be holding up the line, I wouldn't say its none of her business. After all she is helping to pay for those groceries.

Except IF the amount on the card is child support, in which case her ex-h is paying NOT the cashier.

Since there is no way to tell, one should really mind their own business and if they have a problem with the way food stamps are given or not given, as the case may be, take it up with the government. NOT with the woman that may or may not be even using the flippin' things.

I also imagine that if the store the cashier was employed with learned that she was discussing amounts on someone's card with another customer, they would not see it as her business either.

 

[StuckInKS]

Although it may be gossiping and it may be holding up the line, I wouldn't say its none of her business. After all she is helping to pay for those groceries.

How to you know? The cashier might not be paying any taxes at all. Even if she does, it still is really none of her business and I hope someone reports her behavior and she loses her job. May sound harsh, but she has NO RIGHT to discuss the private matters of a customer with other customers, co-workers or even her family and needs to be removed from that position immediately. Then she can be the one being discussed in the checkout line. And I'd like to know how she knows who hasn't worked in years or who isn't looking for a job? I don't think she does and is just making stuff up based on her own assumptions. Who knows, the person not asking for an application may already have a job.

Listen, just because I have to pay 15% of my income towards SS and Medicare (plus regular income taxes) does not mean that it is any of my business what older folks do with their money or how many times they see a doctor. You can argue that they paid into the system (which people on food stamps very well may have paid taxes in previous years), but it is likely that they are getting back much more than they paid in especially if they have been retired for 25-30 years.