Using EBT getting NO coupons at checkout!

[Gumbo4x4]

Well color me surprised then! It woulls seem to make sense to me if a person is using EBT they could use the money saved from the coupons!

We're talking about the gov't. Sense doesn't factor into it

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Unless it's a state thing I don't think it's the government. A few years ago our family was on EBT for a few months and when I used it at Food Lion we still got Catalina's. I thought those kinds of coupons were only tied to your loyalty card. I would contact Meijer or Catalina and ask.

 

[Handbag Lady]

Actually, I think the opposite is true. OP (and all of us) are paying for food stamps through taxes. As an added benefit, it would make sense to encourage coupon use for any purchases made through EBT and WIC, making the money the government is providing "go further". EBT doesn't pay for an entire month of food, it's supposed to be a supplement of what the government expects a family of that income bracket to pay for food. Therefore, coupon use is only a positive.

I agree with this 100%. Since it is our tax money that is paying for the EBT, I'd LOVE for the recipient to use coupons. It would make the benefit stretch just that much further for someone in need.

 

[tina.tina]

OP: I just wanted to say it's nice that you're doing foster care.

My parents have done foster care for about 16 years so I know what you mean about stretching your budget.

 

[mrsklamc]

I have no inside knowledge but -

Catalinas come from the manufacturers (typically- obviously the ever-present RX transfer one is an example of Meijer doing their own.) Catalina's website talks about the 'target demographic' so maybe the manufacturers don't want to, or aren't allowed to, track/target EBT recipients.

I don't think mperks is tied to the Catalinas so even though they know it's you from mperks I don't know those systems cross over.

 

[Colleen27]

Some states have talked for a while about "cracking down" on register rewards for food stamp customers. I'm not sure if any have acted on it, only that ours has not.

I hate seeing the conversation about it - in my corner of the world, it centers around CVS extrabucks and I know several poor families who use those EB rewards to buy things like laundry detergent, shampoo, and toothpaste because food stamps can't be used for those essentials and every dime of the cash income they have goes to rent, utilities, and gas for the car. And frankly, the kids from those families get teased enough for other things they can't afford without deodorant and shampoo being luxuries that they don't always have. I can't imagine what harm it does to treat EBT like any other transaction in that sense - it isn't as though those register coupons or extrabucks rewards can be used towards "hot button" purchases like alcohol, tobacco, or lotto tickets. They just help a bit with the household goods and grocery budget!

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

I just have to wonder if the OP in their current financial situation has changed their buying habits in such a way that the brands that trigger coupons are no longer being purchased.

Remember, the manufacturer, not the store determines who gets coupons. If you normally buy Heinz Catsup, I can see you getting a coupon for Hunts Catsup, but if you buy Store Brand Catsup, I can see you getting no coupon because even with the coupon, the brand name is likely going to be more expensive. You have already told them price, not brand, is more important to you.

I don't know if this theory holds true at Meijer.

My last shopping trip to Meijer (in which I purchased Meijer brand yogurt, cheese, eggs & milk) triggered 12 coupons - 8 of them were for Meijer brand products, 3 were for name brand products and 1 was good on any bag of potatoes. I actually find that buying Meijer brand stuff triggers coupons for other Meijer brand items ...

 

[Colleen27]

Just thinking through this:
1. There's no incentive for someone paying with EBT to use coupons; they don't see any savings.
2. The nature of these coupons; suggesting other brands and whatnot, may not be applicable to EBT customers since those brands/sizes/etc may not qualify under the EBT program
3. Any coupons would be earning a discount on the backs of the taxpayers. The purchaser could try to turn the coupons into cash by selling or trading for other items.

There are so many ways in which it wouldn't be right, that I imagine it's simply prohibited.

1. Food stamp benefits aren't generous enough that coupons and sales aren't essential to making them stretch.

2. Food stamps cover all non-prepared (in the hot sense, not the heat-and-serve sense) foods so the vast majority of products for which those coupons are issues are eligible.

3. Really? You think you could monetize a coupon for 50 cents off 3 cans of soup or a buck of cereal? If so, SAHMs would be all over it as a money-making plan and we'd see all sorts of tips on doing it here on the Budget Board, just like we see threads about Swagbucks and Sunshine Rewards.

 

[tvguy]

I don't know, I think they should shift away from folks buying food with EBT in for profit grocery stores and shift 100% to commodities. You need milk, you get milk from a government warehouse. Cut out the middle man.
I know, I know, people don't like government commodities.....I learned that at the food bank where people who are hungry actually refuse food because if is labeled USDA commodity, not with a brand name. Sort of like the cheese disaster about 20 years ago. I ended up with a 5 pound brick of cheddar because the people is was intended for didn't want it. It was great cheese.

 

[Colleen27]

I don't know, I think they should shift away from folks buying food with EBT in for profit grocery stores and shift 100% to commodities. You need milk, you get milk from a government warehouse. Cut out the middle man.
I know, I know, people don't like government commodities.....I learned that at the food bank where people who are hungry actually refuse food because if is labeled USDA commodity, not with a brand name. Sort of like the cheese disaster about 20 years ago. I ended up with a 5 pound brick of cheddar because the people is was intended for didn't want it. It was great cheese.

Food stamps serve a secondary purpose, though, that commodities distribution wouldn't - they support grocery stores in impoverished communities. Remove the percentage of the population receiving that benefit from the customer base and many rural and inner city stores would not have enough business to remain open.

In addition, commodities distribution is really only practical in fairly densely populated areas. One of the older women who volunteers at our church food bank talks about the days of commodity aid in our community and how her family did without because they didn't have a way to get to the county seat (30-odd miles away) where the distribution point was. That would almost certainly be just as true today, particularly with the combination of government budget/staffing cuts and persistently high gas prices. We already have people in our community who don't apply for needed aid because of the difficulty in getting to the one welfare office in the county to apply, and that's something that only needs to be done once a year. Weekly or monthly food distributions would result in even more of the needy going without.

 

[tvguy]

Food stamps serve a secondary purpose, though, that commodities distribution wouldn't - they support grocery stores in impoverished communities. Remove the percentage of the population receiving that benefit from the customer base and many rural and inner city stores would not have enough business to remain open.

In addition, commodities distribution is really only practical in fairly densely populated areas. One of the older women who volunteers at our church food bank talks about the days of commodity aid in our community and how her family did without because they didn't have a way to get to the county seat (30-odd miles away) where the distribution point was. That would almost certainly be just as true today, particularly with the combination of government budget/staffing cuts and persistently high gas prices. We already have people in our community who don't apply for needed aid because of the difficulty in getting to the one welfare office in the county to apply, and that's something that only needs to be done once a year. Weekly or monthly food distributions would result in even more of the needy going without.

The whole grocery store in impoverished areas is amazingly complex. I know here the stores in low income neighborhoods struggle with conflicting demands. City officials want them to be there for the residents, and they push them to keep health perishable foods in stock, but their customers don't buy the healthy stuff. So then they run education programs on healthy eating, and they still don't buy it.
I was shocked the times I have worked at the Food Bank at how many people won't touch healthy food, they want junk food.

 

[Egdisney]

I don't know, I think they should shift away from folks buying food with EBT in for profit grocery stores and shift 100% to commodities. You need milk, you get milk from a government warehouse. Cut out the middle man. I know, I know, people don't like government commodities.....I learned that at the food bank where people who are hungry actually refuse food because if is labeled USDA commodity, not with a brand name. Sort of like the cheese disaster about 20 years ago. I ended up with a 5 pound brick of cheddar because the people is was intended for didn't want it. It was great cheese.

My great grandma used to get commodity cheese. I remember it being the best cheese in the world

 

[KaylaR]

I shop at Meijer in Michigan, although on the other side of the state. Whenever I use my EBT card or WIC card, I always receive coupons. Doesn't matter if im buying Meijer brand, ect, so I'd ask because I can't see any reason youre not getting coupons. (unless its a really new card, and the system may not know what you buy yet?)

 

[disneyfab]

Its a government rule. Where I am, you do not get coupons or rewards if you use funds from a government program. No 5% coupon from prescriptions, for example. I am a government employee and since my insurance is through the government, I do not get rewards and such.

Same here

 

[kaytieeldr]

I think a store would get in trouble trying to claim that cash register-issued store coupons shouldn't be considered the same as trading stamps

No. Trading stamps aren't like coupons at all

 

[DebbieB]

I've found those coupons do track back to what you have purchased on your loyalty card. Like I'll get a coupon for something that I bought the week before or something similar to it, they know it's something I would be interested in by my purchase history.

 

[Marionnette]

Zombie thread from over a year ago. Why are we beating this dead horse?

 

[SparklePixie]

No. Trading stamps aren't like coupons at all

Why did you bump an almost two year old thread?

 

[kaytieeldr]

To evoke questions like 'why did you...'

Missed it the first time around.

 

[eliza61]

[QUOTE
OP, are you talking about all coupons printed by the catalina machine, or are you referring to the coupons that get you $X-off your next shopping order wyb specific products?

I'm speaking of the ones that print at the register after you pay. Like if you buy one brand it will kick out something for a different brand. I get those all the time if I use my debit card. It just seems really weird that I never get anything when I use the EBT card. I am shopping Meijer and using my MPERKS code for each transaction so they kknow it's me and they have a long history to read from because I always use MPERKS and coupons no matter how I pay.

It seems not right that the store would do that on purpose but I have been paying attention this last month and I'm not imagining it.[/QUOTE]


It has to be store specific. Shoprite and Acme here in Pa print out the coupons no matter how you pay as long as it's not cash. But as previous poster mentioned I think it's dependent on what you purchase. some times I get them, some times I don't. it's a perk