Food Stamp Limitations

Kayla - posted on 06/26/2012

What I don't understand is that there are people selling food stamps so obviously they are getting too much assistance in my opinion but then there people like me my husband and baby my husband makes probably $20 past their qualifications for a household of 3 so they don't even bother looking at our rent and other bills. All we needed was a month or two of assistance and got turned down but my sister and her husband who neither has ever had a steady job have got around $800 a month for almost 5 years!

Dove - posted on 06/22/2012

You bump up a thread that's almost a year old and don't even make a literate response on it? Interesting....

Darkerthanme - posted on 06/22/2012

I kno sm ppl do nd foodstamps bt i kno there r ppl that msuse the system also and they get away with it.

Constance - posted on 08/19/2011

The system is backwards. Food stamps for a lot of families just like WIC is they only way to make ends meet. Most of the time when someone is selling or trading food stamps for cash it is to pay for another necessity o live. Getting finacial assitance is bullshit when it comes to th system. Years ago my husband and I fell on hard times. We had 4 young children and we needed help to get on our feet. Food stamps were no problem to get we even had them on the same day so I was abe to buy groceries. Medicaid was easy to get for the kids but not me or my husband because we were married. Somthing I need to have to manage my medical isses. Then finacial assitance was a joke. We were approved because nith one of us wa working at the time the check came in for a wopping $400 dollars for the month. My husband was able to get work and worked 3 jobs for several years but now we are more than ok we are futunate now to have what we do. In the time that we did get finiacial assistance which was only for that one month because the second my husband made more the $250 dollars a month we no longer qualified. Who can live off $400 a month even single not anyone I know. That is what makes people trade food stamps for cash. Fix the system fix the problems.

Mary Renee - posted on 08/18/2011

What I don't understand is why don't they alter food stamps to be like... "Necessity" stamps? I mean, add laundry detergent and dish soap to the list of items you can buy with food stamps. What good is food with out anything to eat it off of or cook it with?

Also as far as what some people have said... how are you supposed to get a bachelor's degree and a job when you have children to take care of? Take night classes? Ok, so you work during the day and take night classes at night? Who is watching your kids? Daycares usually close at 6pm.

I think it's important to remember that a lot of the people on assistance are single moms that are screwed by their dead beat husbands/boyfriends that got them pregnant and left them in the lurch. On top of that, women STILL only make 75 cents for every dollar a man makes. To me it is the inherent unfairness that women get pregnant and so "they" have to deal with it financially while the men dip out. As long as men continue to make more money than women for doing the same job and are not adequately penalized for being deadbeat assholes, then the government is going to have to have a hand in helping single mothers.

Jennifer - posted on 08/18/2011

While my first thoughts are as bad as yours (I personally know people who abuse the sytem), and I would have refused her request, I also know people who get way more food stamps than they need. They end up stealing toilet paper or laundry soap and selling food for cash to pay the electric bill. The system is so busted! I wish that a real person could listen to what a family really needs, and make that choice to help. What good are food stamps if your fridge doesn't work? Or the grocery store is 5 miles away and your car is broken? How do you get a job if all your check would cover is daycare? And head start is full of kids who's parents don't work?

I use to volunteer at a food pantry. Most of the people who came to get food were already getting food stamps, and as I talked to them, I realized that they were taking our food, then selling food stamps. It was so embarressing to these people to get two hand outs, and then sell one to buy other needed items. I wanted to cut out the middle man! As we talked about it, it was decided that we would not give out as much food, and keep the cash on hand instead. They now pay for gas, electric, car repairs, and trips to the laundry mat, and everyone is happier! I think most people would be happier and not abuse the system if their needs were really being met. Of course the people who sell food stamps to buy smokes or beer, or worse, should loose everything.......

Charley - posted on 08/16/2011

Not everyone can just go get a degree i get fs and not enough for that matter thats just crazy to say a cut off limit

Teresa - posted on 08/13/2011

I'm pretty sure you get the card everywhere.... YOU buy food for other people w/ the card and trade them the food for cash (like buy $100 worth of food and sell it to the person for $50... illegal, but everyone gets a good 'deal').

Brittany - posted on 08/13/2011

In my state you get a card like a debt card. There isn't a way to give to anyone else. You have to enter a pin.

We were on it after my husband got laid off. They checked our income every 3 months, and once he started making more that they allowed we were cut off. Now that was for a family of 3, I'm going to be having another child soon. That means that technically we could qualify again. I don't feel we'll need it, so we most likely will let it run out.

When we first applied they got after us over the fact that another job that he had worked (about 5 months prior) hadn't filled out forms saying that he was no longer an employee. They knew that, but we didn't. I really have no idea how people are able to abuse the system.

Rachelle - posted on 08/13/2011

I recive food stamps and I dont abuse them.My husband works full time and is going to collage.I also work part time we make our schudules go around each other so we dont have to pay for daycare.If I work full time it would be a waste because most of my check would go for daycare and it would hurt us even more.I have never had to draw the cash we have always worked and paid our bill but we live in a small town and my husband has worked at his job for 10 years and only makes 7.65 an hour and i make 8.50 an hour now you try buying your food with cash on that.

Good Day! - posted on 08/10/2011

In response to your first paragraph, the other ladies covered that just fine.

Now to address the second paragraph. A specific amount of time and bam you're out is ridiculous. Every situation is different. Food stamps, cash assistance and medicaid should be monitored.

Also 5 years to get a bachelors and a job? So, what about all those people with college degrees who can't find jobs? They don't just hand out bachelor's degrees. It takes time and money. And if you are on assistance you ain't go no money, honey. It's just not that easy.

Jurnee - posted on 08/10/2011

I dont agree with selling food stamps, but I can sometimes understand why. I knew someone who had 4 kids, and received $700 a month in food stamps, plus WIC for formula, milk, cereal, and her 2 older kids had free lunch ad breakfast in school. She was also recieving some unemployment benefits while she attended school. It was simply way more food money than she needed. So sometimes she would buy groceries for her parents, and they would put gas in her car or pay the water bill for her if she ran out of cash. She wasnt technically selling them, but she was trading. I think that some cases need to reevaluated to see where the help is most needed. I also know some who sold them for alcohol, cigaretteres, drugs, etc, and that is just totally wrong.

Teresa - posted on 08/10/2011

There is a 5 year lifetime limit on cash assistance which I am fine w/, but when it costs almost $20 for me to just get a gallon of milk, loaf of bread, pack of english muffins, and a can of spaghettios (what my sick kid wanted for breakfast today).... I would not be able to feed my children if there were a limit of time on food stamps.

And when the government allows you almost double what you need to spend on food, but you don't have enough cash to get gas in your car.... I can totally understand selling food stamps. NOT that it is right, but I can certainly relate to the desperation that causes SOME of the people to do that (yes, I know some are abusing it/using it for drugs, but certainly not ALL are).