- Did you know you could
buy these seven things
with your food stamps card?
Hi, I'm Nicole from LowIncomeRelief.com,
where we help millions
of Americans save money
and get free stuff.
Today I'm gonna talk to you
about seven surprising things
you can buy with your food stamps card.
For the duration of this video,
I will only be talking about
using your food stamps funds.
We're not gonna be talking
about cash benefits
or anything else, just food stamps.
Everything we talk about today
is gonna be completely legal
and completely legitimate.
We fact check all of it
because we wanna make sure
that we're always bringing
you accurate information.
So let's get started.
First up on the list, fast food.
I know many people with
food stamps already know
that you can take your card
into your local Papa Murphy's
and pick up a Take N' Bake pizza.
That's pretty common.
But what you may not know
is that in some areas
you may be able to stop
at places like McDonalds,
Subway and Taco Bell
and get food there too.
This program is not available in all areas
or to all people.
The Restaurant Meals Program
is specifically designed
to serve seniors, the
homeless and disabled people
who are unable to make
their own meals at home.
This program is part of the
federal food stamps law.
However, it's not available
on a federal level.
Each state is given the right to decide
whether or not they wanna participate.
And understandably, many states don't.
Even in the states that do participate,
individual counties can
decide whether or not
they're going to offer this program.
So it gets really complicated really fast.
You can see a full list
of participating states,
counties and even restaurants
at LowIncomeRelief.com/RMP.
Number two, live lobster and shellfish.
Just because you can do something
does not necessarily mean
that you should do it.
You can buy live lobster and shellfish
with your food stamps card,
but I really don't think
it's a good idea for a couple of reasons.
First of all, it's insanely expensive.
And if you're using food
stamps to feed your family,
it's not gonna go very far if
you're buying stuff like that.
Number two, it's seafood,
and seafood is gross.
So I don't think anybody
should buy lobster
or shellfish honestly.
Okay, but if you are so inclined,
you really wanna do that, it is possible
to buy live lobster and shellfish
with your food stamps card.
Number three, energy drinks.
Now there's a lot of people
out there who will tell you
that you can buy energy drinks
with your food stamp card,
and there are people out
there who will tell you
that you can't.
They're both technically right.
It depends on what kind of brand you like
because we have two different kinds
of energy drinks in America.
We have some that are
classified as food items,
and those have a nutrition facts label.
We also have some that are
classified as supplements,
and those have a supplement facts label.
Now obviously you can't buy
vitamins and supplements
with your food stamps card,
so you're not gonna be able
to buy those energy drink brands
with your food stamps card.
But you can buy the ones with
the nutrition facts label.
So Red Bull fans, you're in luck.
Number four, birthday cakes.
If you wanna buy your kid
a special birthday cake
at the bakery, you can probably do that
with your food stamps card.
The law says that it is allowable,
as long as at least half
the value of the cake
is in the edible part
and not the decorations.
So if you're getting a
modestly decorated sheet cake
for a birthday, you're
probably good to go.
But if you're looking for a fancier cake
for like a wedding, that's
probably not gonna run
on your food stamps card.
But you can buy modestly decorated cakes
from the bakery on food stamps.
Number five, gift baskets.
Just like with birthday cakes,
you can buy gift baskets on food stamps,
as long as at least half the
value of the item is edible.
That means you can buy
Easter baskets full of candy,
but not Easter baskets full of toys.
On Valentine's day, you
can buy a little bear
with the big box of chocolates,
but not a big bear with the
little box of chocolates.
And of course at Christmas time,
if you're so inclined, you can buy those
super nasty tins of
popcorn because allegedly,
that's edible too.
So again, you can buy gift
baskets on your food stamps card
as long as at least half
of the purchase value
is the edible portion.
Number six, seeds and live plants.
This is definitely my favorite
thing that you can buy
with food stamps.
You can go and you can
buy seeds, live plants,
even fruit trees with
your food stamps card.
You can't buy the things that
you need to grow those things
like soil or pots or anything like that,
but you can get the actual plant itself
on your food stamps card.
Now the downside to this
is that many retailers
are not aware of this aspect of the law.
We've had a lot of readers
come back to the website
and explain that their
local retailer didn't know
that this was legal and gave
them some trouble about it.
So for clarification,
I took it to the USDA
and I got this email in response.
The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 states
that SNAP households may use SNAP benefits
to purchase seeds and plants,
which produce food for consumption.
Eligible seeds and plants include
vegetable seeds and plants
that produce food such as
tomato and green pepper plants.
Other eligible items include fruit trees,
food-producing roots, bushes and bulbs
such as asparagus roots and berry bushes.
Seeds and plants that
produce cooking spices
are also eligible for
purchase with SNAP benefits.
Accordingly, some herb plants
produce for consumption
and are eligible for
purchase with SNAP benefits,
while others do not produce
food for consumption
and are not eligible for
purchase with SNAP benefits.
Each herb plant sold at the
market will have to be weighed
under this factor to
determine SNAP eligibility.
For example, most mint,
spearmint, cilantro,
basil, sage and oregano plants
produce food for consumption
and are eligible for
purchase with SNAP benefit.
However, some varieties of sage plants
are purely ornamental, do not
produce food for consumption
and are thus ineligible for
purchase with SNAP benefit.
It should also be noted that
any plant or seed purchased
with SNAP benefits should
be purchased to grow food
for the SNAP household and
not for commercial use.
One of my very favorite things
about running Low Income
Relief is being able to see
the difference that our
website makes in other's lives.
So I'd like to share with
you some of the messages
and the pictures that I've
received from our readers
who have tried this and
had great success with it.
Amber from Muscle Shoals, Alabama said,
I came across your page on Facebook
and have been reading all the articles.
One I ran across was
things you didn't know
you can use with your EBT card.
I found out you could buy
seeds to plant for a garden,
so that's what I did.
Here's a photo.
Coral from Denton, Maryland said,
Low Income Relief has
helped my family and I
in more ways than one.
I have learned so much
from Low Income Relief
about all the benefits
of having an EBT card.
One of my favorite benefits
of having an EBT card
is that I can buy fresh produce and seeds.
And with just a few cents and
some hard work and patience,
I now have a beautiful
garden that consists
of grapes, tomatoes, corn,
squash, cucumber, pears
and a lot of other fresh
fruits and vegetables.
My garden supplies more than
enough for my family and I,
so with all the extra food I grew,
I donate it to other families in need.
I think those are fantastic.
But if you're like me and
you don't have a green thumb
and you can't grow
anything to save your life,
probably not a good idea
to spend your food stamps
on seeds and plants.
You can, however, take those benefits
to your local farmers market.
Many of them have dollar
matching programs.
So if you'll spend $20 on your card,
they'll send you home with $40 in produce.
It's a great way to buy
affordable, healthy food
for your family.
Number seven, hunting
and fishing equipment.
If you live in rural Alaska,
you may be able to use
your food stamps funds to
buy knives, fishing nets
and even harpoons so that
you can hunt and fish
to sustain your family year round.
The government has authorized
this because they know
that grocery stores aren't exactly common
in the rural parts of Alaska.
Other states have also recognized
that hunting and fishing
is a great way for a family to
stretch their grocery budget.
So there are many states
that will let you get
a free hunting or fishing license
if you qualify based on
income for food stamps.
For more information about that,
you're welcome to visit our website
at LowIncomeRelief.com/EBT.
Well, that's it!
Those are the seven most
surprising things I found
that you can buy with food stamps.
If you do get food stamps,
I encourage you to visit
our website at LowIncomeRelief.com/EBT
to find out how you may qualify
for $5 Internet, free museum
admission and so much more.
At Low Income Relief, we help millions
of low income Americans save
money and get free stuff.
Some of our most popular articles include
how to get $5 Internet, how
to get free home repair grants
and how to get free and
low cost veterinary care
for your pets.
We also have an extensive
list of over 400 freebies
and deals you can get
with the food stamps card.
For more information, visit us online
at LowIncomeRelief.com.
