One of the most common questions I get
asked is, "Why do I only get $16
in food stamps?!" It seems like
many people who apply for food stamps
only get a pitiful amount of money that
barely helps at all. If this has happened
to you, then you probably have a lot of
questions. Why did this happen? What are
you supposed to do with $16 a
month? What can you do to get more
food stamps? I've looked into it and I
found answers for all of these questions.
I'm Nicole from LowIncomeRelief.com.
We help millions of people save money
and get free stuff every year. So why do
you only get $16 in food stamps?
The short answer is that $16
is the minimum amount of food stamps
that someone can receive. Federal law
states that all one and two person
households who meet the income
requirements will receive a minimum
benefit. According to this USDA memo, the
minimum benefit was increased to $16
in 2020 for all states except
Hawaii and Alaska. Before 2020, the
minimum benefit was $15. The good
news is that you may be able to increase
the amount of food stamps that you
receive. As always, we do not recommend
committing any form of fraud EVER. We are
simply recommending that you check the
math that was used to calculate your
benefits with a few simple tips. You can
find all these tips and more at LowIncomeRelief.com! We have an instruction
guide titled "How to Get More Food Stamps"
at LowIncomeRelief.com/more-food-stamps
that may be able to help you.
The first step is to
check your household size. There are many
rules governing who actually counts
toward your household. It isn't as simple
as counting everyone who lives with you.
It must be people who live with you AND
share food with you. It's possible that
you may have included more people than
necessary and that their income is
counting against you. That link at Low
Income Relief can help you figure out
who should be in your household.
Second, check your deductions. There are
some deductions that are only claimed by
2-5% of people who
receive food stamps. This is especially
common for seniors and disabled people
who are eligible for the little-known
medical expense deduction. This deduction
can make a huge difference in the amount
of food stamps you receive but it does
require some extra paperwork. For more
information on that, be sure to check our
website. Third, you may be able to
rearrange your budget to maximize those
deductions. For example, my friend Bob
lives with his relatives and pays for
specific expenses instead of paying rent.
If he applied for food stamps, he would
actually receive more help if he paid a
flat rate for rent and let his family
members use that money to pay for those
expenses that he was already covering
directly. The amount of money he spends
won't change but the food stamps office
would be able to recognize that
contribution as his shelter costs and it
would result in a higher food stamps
allowance. Even if you cannot directly
increase the amount of food stamps you
receive, you may be able to maximize your
benefits through some smart shopping
techniques. For example, many farmers
markets offer a double-up program. With
these programs, you can get twice as much
produce as you actually pay for. Just
like that, your $16 in food
stamps can become $32 in fresh
produce. We've also found a list of 450+
freebies and deals that you can
receive just for having a food stamps
card! It doesn't matter how high or low
the balance is. You just need to have that
card. For more information about those
discounts, be sure to check out our
directory at LowIncomeRelief.com/EBT
We've done a lot of research into food
stamps topics and we're always happy to
help. For more information about this and
other food stamps questions be sure to
check out all of our resources at
LowIncomeRelief.com/EBT
Thank you so much for watching! I hope
this video was helpful to you. Be sure to
subscribe to our channel so you never
miss another freebie or money-saving
update!
