What can you buy with an EBT card?

[dsneprincess]

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.

This is an example of exactly how the system is suppose to work and why we keep funding the system. We want to believe in human goodness & helping a mom work hard, supplement her work to feed her kids healthy food so they grow up & make good choices, work hard & don't need to perpetuate the abuse of the system. Congratulations to you & your cousin; it is not easy to stand strong & go against what everyone else is doing or taking the "easy" way out. I, personally, want to believe their are more of these stories in the EBT system than the beer & cigs story!

 

[*JoGo*]

I know someone that has lived on welfare and all types of assistance since she was 17, now in her 40s. She even had another child when her youngest was about to become an adult. She has a meat truck deliver to her (government) house. really good, prime cuts of meat, paid for with her EBT card. Not saying those on lower incomes don't deserve good food, but when people are living THAT comfortably on assistance, they will never get off it. There are second and now third generations living in that govt housing neighborhood. And cost of living here is very low.

 

[*JoGo*]

This is an example of exactly how the system is suppose to work and why we keep funding the system. We want to believe in human goodness & helping a mom work hard, supplement her work to feed her kids healthy food so they grow up & make good choices, work hard & don't need to perpetuate the abuse of the system. Congratulations to you & your cousin; it is not easy to stand strong & go against what everyone else is doing or taking the "easy" way out. I, personally, want to believe their are more of these stories in the EBT system than the beer & cigs story!

+100!!!
I'm all for helping people that need help and are trying! It's those that make a career of living on the system that make me angry.

 

[Hoodie]

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.

Your personally story is how it's supposed to work! Your second paragraph, I can relate to. We've had several girls in the neighborhood plan on getting pregnant around this time of year during their senior year. The goal is to fit into their prom dresses, enjoy the summer, and then have the baby so they can get housing and benefits by the fall. Unfortunately, in some cases their mothers encourage it because then they can get the benefits for the baby after their daughters turn 18. Leeches.

 

[wvjules]

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.

OK, really????? There isn't an anonomous tip line or anything? Can other students report other things, just drugs/alcohol and cigarettes are unreportable? I can't believe you cant report drug use. That's insane.

 

[gator75]

I saw something 2 sundays ago that really got me steamed with the ebt program. We have a small grocery that sells out of this world carmel rolls, well anyway i was standing behind this guy who was buying cigerets. Nothing to unusual about that until they ring them up and he proceeds to tell them he dosen't have the money but he has ... wait for it a ebt card and asks if they will take it. Low and behold it went through. I wanted to grab a scissor and cut up his card before his very eyes. I can't tell you how mad it made me to know that i as a tax payer am paying for that.

And it was just a pack of smokes it was 3 cartons. He had obviously done it before as he knew to ask.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Zombie thread. This one should get interesting. Since it's Fat Tuesday I can bring out the popcorn and doughnuts.

 

[fall08CP]

Leave it to the community board to bring out the moral police

I volunteer full-time with the lowest of the low- the homeless, prostitutes, teen moms, HIV +, and mentally ill. If you all had ANY idea what it was really like, you'd think twice before making judgment. Of the hundreds I've mentored, I've never once seen somebody abuse the system. Rather, I see them using the limited knowledge they have to make difficult decisions for their family. If Suzy wants to buy a cake mix for Joe's birthday, who cares? Yes, she could buy 3 potatoes for the price of the cake, but she's a mom and those are her decisions to make. If low-income people shouldn't be able to buy junk food and soda on food stamps, none of us should buy them, period. If you truly feel that those foods are that harmful, then keep them out of everybody's kitchens! The method of payment isn't what makes someone unhealthy.

I teach these low-income folk how to make dried beans, use their SNAP benefits at the farmer's market, and wrote a grant on my own time to fund a community garden so they have unlimited free vegetables 365 days a year. Many of them eat healthier than you or I simply because it's cheaper to eat healthy than to eat junk food- and I'll happily provide sources to anyone who disagrees.

For the record, I'm a strict vegan and live on solely fruits, veggies and grains, much cheaper than the meat and dairy that many of you eat. While I would love for everyone to go vegetarian and stop wasting precious resources eaten up by the meat/dairy industry, I would never force that on you. We all have decisions to make about our health. Rather than judge them, how about volunteering and helping educate them? You don't know their stories until you sit down and listen. Trust me on that!

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Here EBT cards can have multiple sources of funds loaded on to them. Food stamps, cash aid, unemployment insurance, and in some case child support can all be on the cards.

We have a summer jobs program here where teens can work for various community service organizations and nonprofits and get paid by the government. They get paid using EBT cards.

Some of those forms of income have limits on how they can be used, others don't.

Regardless of the type of funds on the card, it's nobody's business how the funds are used, other than the person using them or the store where they're using them.

 

[CammelleandBre]

Have fun sweeping up all those shards from your glass house. I'm so glad all you judgemental people can predict the future, and know that you will never ever need government assistance. What if one day one of your children had to use food stamps, and some busybody in the store was judging everything they bought, and thinking I'm paying for you to buy that. Oh, and please don't say if my kid ever did need them they would use it for what it's for. Because, the truth is you don't know. How about you mind your buisness.

 

[RitaE]

Hey, if any of you see my children buying smokes and alcohol with Food stamp money, go ahead and judge them.

and tell them their Mom is going to be pissed if she finds out about it too.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Leave it to the community board to bring out the moral police

I volunteer full-time with the lowest of the low- the homeless, prostitutes, teen moms, HIV +, and mentally ill. If you all had ANY idea what it was really like, you'd think twice before making judgment. Of the hundreds I've mentored, I've never once seen somebody abuse the system. Rather, I see them using the limited knowledge they have to make difficult decisions for their family. If Suzy wants to buy a cake mix for Joe's birthday, who cares? Yes, she could buy 3 potatoes for the price of the cake, but she's a mom and those are her decisions to make. If low-income people shouldn't be able to buy junk food and soda on food stamps, none of us should buy them, period. If you truly feel that those foods are that harmful, then keep them out of everybody's kitchens! The method of payment isn't what makes someone unhealthy.

I teach these low-income folk how to make dried beans, use their SNAP benefits at the farmer's market, and wrote a grant on my own time to fund a community garden so they have unlimited free vegetables 365 days a year. Many of them eat healthier than you or I simply because it's cheaper to eat healthy than to eat junk food- and I'll happily provide sources to anyone who disagrees.

For the record, I'm a strict vegan and live on solely fruits, veggies and grains, much cheaper than the meat and dairy that many of you eat. While I would love for everyone to go vegetarian and stop wasting precious resources eaten up by the meat/dairy industry, I would never force that on you. We all have decisions to make about our health. Rather than judge them, how about volunteering and helping educate them? You don't know their stories until you sit down and listen. Trust me on that!

Have fun sweeping up all those shards from your glass house. I'm so glad all you judgemental people can predict the future, and know that you will never ever need government assistance. What if one day one of your children had to use food stamps, and some busybody in the store was judging everything they bought, and thinking I'm paying for you to buy that. Oh, and please don't say if my kid ever did need them they would use it for what it's for. Because, the truth is you don't know. How about you mind your buisness.

Thank you to you both above

 

[sms]

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

What is wrong with that? Just because someone is getting food stamps doesn't mean they have to live off of beans and rice!

 

[wilkeliza]

I'm not going to apologize for what I said. My family was on food stamps and had an EBT card that was had the money that was ment for our utility bills and household needs. As I said my mother only used the money for what it was intended for. When you receive assistants they tell you this is for x y and z. Yes the money is for however you choose to use it but you receive it for certain things. I don't believe an iphone is a necessity. Sure get a cell phone with your EBT money but why does it have to be a 600 dollar phone that costs 80 a month (cheapest plan not the unlimited plan) to maintain. Also you can buy yourself a purse with your EBT money but it doesn't need to be a Gucci purse.

I don't even care if people want to buy cigarettes and booze on the EBT as long as their children are feed and well taken care of.

The only problem I have is with people I personally know and work with who lie on their applications about how much they work and make and even get our boss to write letters for them so they don't have to show their pay stubs. Also the girls who I grew up with who would tell me to their face they were using their aid money to go shopping and would come back with everything they wanted and never bought anything for their kids.

To make yourself feel better by saying you never see abuse that is all fine. I do volunteer work and go out with habitat for humanity and meals on wheels etc to help people out and even share my story of overcoming obstacles to help people. There is abuse and there are honest people who use the system for what it was intended for. We have to recognize both and look from both lenses to be able to help the system and keep it fair.

 

[Patience]

To make yourself feel better by saying you never see abuse that is all fine. I do volunteer work and go out with habitat for humanity and meals on wheels etc to help people out and even share my story of overcoming obstacles to help people. There is abuse and there are honest people who use the system for what it was intended for. We have to recognize both and look from both lenses to be able to help the system and keep it fair.

Well said. Of course there is abuse and of course there are people, like your mother, who are honest and use the system as it was intended. The system cannot work fairly if there are too many of the former and too few of the later. The system needs to be better about weeding out the cheaters so that it can work as intended. Looking at the situation wearing rose colored glasses does nothing to help people in the long run.

 

[mnrose]

Leave it to the community board to bring out the moral police

I volunteer full-time with the lowest of the low- the homeless, prostitutes, teen moms, HIV +, and mentally ill. If you all had ANY idea what it was really like, you'd think twice before making judgment. Of the hundreds I've mentored, I've never once seen somebody abuse the system. Rather, I see them using the limited knowledge they have to make difficult decisions for their family. If Suzy wants to buy a cake mix for Joe's birthday, who cares? Yes, she could buy 3 potatoes for the price of the cake, but she's a mom and those are her decisions to make. If low-income people shouldn't be able to buy junk food and soda on food stamps, none of us should buy them, period. If you truly feel that those foods are that harmful, then keep them out of everybody's kitchens! The method of payment isn't what makes someone unhealthy.

I teach these low-income folk how to make dried beans, use their SNAP benefits at the farmer's market, and wrote a grant on my own time to fund a community garden so they have unlimited free vegetables 365 days a year. Many of them eat healthier than you or I simply because it's cheaper to eat healthy than to eat junk food- and I'll happily provide sources to anyone who disagrees.

For the record, I'm a strict vegan and live on solely fruits, veggies and grains, much cheaper than the meat and dairy that many of you eat. While I would love for everyone to go vegetarian and stop wasting precious resources eaten up by the meat/dairy industry, I would never force that on you. We all have decisions to make about our health. Rather than judge them, how about volunteering and helping educate them? You don't know their stories until you sit down and listen. Trust me on that!

I'm certain there is abuse...but it's more the exception than the rule. And, I'm all for getting the crap out of our food system. It should be gone for everyone!

 

[scrapquitler]

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

That's not really such a big deal.... honestly, where I live, steak (and at certain times of the year, even lobster) is less expensive than ground beef. So maybe it's actually more cost effective for them to buy steak. London Broil is $3.99/lb at the local store this week, lean groud beef is $5.39. So what's smarter?

 

[tvguy]

IMHO we need to shift completely to giving people the food they need, not the money.

The reality is, however, people want the money, not the food.

Remember the big cheese give aways 20 years ago? U.S. Department of Agriculture bought cheese for those in need and school lunch programs and nobody wanted it. It was great cheese, we got some because if we didn't take it, it was going in the dumpster.

And I volunteer at the food bank, they give away USDA commondities (canned fruits and vegetables) but they have had to put up signs asking people to return those products rather than throw them out because there are so many people who feel they are inferior. Yet, you look at the coding on the cans, and they are the exact same products as the name brand.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

IMHO we need to shift completely to giving people the food they need, not the money.

The reality is, however, people want the money, not the food.

Remember the big cheese give aways 20 years ago? U.S. Department of Agriculture bought cheese for those in need and school lunch programs and nobody wanted it. It was great cheese, we got some because if we didn't take it, it was going in the dumpster.

And I volunteer at the food bank, they give away USDA commondities (canned fruits and vegetables) but they have had to put up signs asking people to return those products rather than throw them out because there are so many people who feel they are inferior. Yet, you look at the coding on the cans, and they are the exact same products as the name brand.

The problem is most people are picky eaters and I would rather see them , eat then waste food that just sits there and is wasted. The entry or snap what ever you want to.call it is so people don't go hungry. And who knows if we flat out provide the food they can have an allergy to it. Food allergies are so common these days.

 

[tvguy]

The problem is most people are picky eaters and I would rather see the, eat the waste food that just sits there and is wasted. The entry or snap what ever you want to.call it is so people don't go hungry. And who knows if we flat out provide the food they can have an allergy to it. Food allergies are so common these days.

I have no problem with them requesting specific foods to avoid allergies and likes and dislikes. But of course the stores would object because they make money on EBT customers, and if food instead of cash were provided, they would lose money.