馃攳
7 Things You Didn't Know You Could Buy with EBT - YouTube
Channel: Low Income Relief
[0]
- Did you know you could
buy these seven things
[2]
with your food stamps card?
[4]
Hi, I'm Nicole from LowIncomeRelief.com,
[6]
where we help millions
of Americans save money
[9]
and get free stuff.
[10]
Today I'm gonna talk to you
about seven surprising things
[13]
you can buy with your food stamps card.
[15]
For the duration of this video,
[17]
I will only be talking about
using your food stamps funds.
[21]
We're not gonna be talking
about cash benefits
[23]
or anything else, just food stamps.
[25]
Everything we talk about today
is gonna be completely legal
[28]
and completely legitimate.
[29]
We fact check all of it
because we wanna make sure
[32]
that we're always bringing
you accurate information.
[35]
So let's get started.
[37]
First up on the list, fast food.
[40]
I know many people with
food stamps already know
[43]
that you can take your card
into your local Papa Murphy's
[45]
and pick up a Take N' Bake pizza.
[47]
That's pretty common.
[48]
But what you may not know
is that in some areas
[51]
you may be able to stop
at places like McDonalds,
[54]
Subway and Taco Bell
and get food there too.
[57]
This program is not available in all areas
[60]
or to all people.
[61]
The Restaurant Meals Program
is specifically designed
[64]
to serve seniors, the
homeless and disabled people
[67]
who are unable to make
their own meals at home.
[69]
This program is part of the
federal food stamps law.
[73]
However, it's not available
on a federal level.
[77]
Each state is given the right to decide
[79]
whether or not they wanna participate.
[80]
And understandably, many states don't.
[83]
Even in the states that do participate,
[85]
individual counties can
decide whether or not
[88]
they're going to offer this program.
[90]
So it gets really complicated really fast.
[93]
You can see a full list
of participating states,
[96]
counties and even restaurants
at LowIncomeRelief.com/RMP.
[103]
Number two, live lobster and shellfish.
[106]
Just because you can do something
[108]
does not necessarily mean
that you should do it.
[113]
You can buy live lobster and shellfish
[115]
with your food stamps card,
but I really don't think
[117]
it's a good idea for a couple of reasons.
[119]
First of all, it's insanely expensive.
[122]
And if you're using food
stamps to feed your family,
[124]
it's not gonna go very far if
you're buying stuff like that.
[128]
Number two, it's seafood,
and seafood is gross.
[132]
So I don't think anybody
should buy lobster
[135]
or shellfish honestly.
[137]
Okay, but if you are so inclined,
[140]
you really wanna do that, it is possible
[142]
to buy live lobster and shellfish
[144]
with your food stamps card.
[146]
Number three, energy drinks.
[149]
Now there's a lot of people
out there who will tell you
[151]
that you can buy energy drinks
with your food stamp card,
[154]
and there are people out
there who will tell you
[156]
that you can't.
[157]
They're both technically right.
[160]
It depends on what kind of brand you like
[162]
because we have two different kinds
[164]
of energy drinks in America.
[165]
We have some that are
classified as food items,
[168]
and those have a nutrition facts label.
[171]
We also have some that are
classified as supplements,
[173]
and those have a supplement facts label.
[176]
Now obviously you can't buy
vitamins and supplements
[178]
with your food stamps card,
so you're not gonna be able
[180]
to buy those energy drink brands
with your food stamps card.
[185]
But you can buy the ones with
the nutrition facts label.
[187]
So Red Bull fans, you're in luck.
[190]
Number four, birthday cakes.
[192]
If you wanna buy your kid
a special birthday cake
[195]
at the bakery, you can probably do that
[197]
with your food stamps card.
[198]
The law says that it is allowable,
[201]
as long as at least half
the value of the cake
[203]
is in the edible part
and not the decorations.
[206]
So if you're getting a
modestly decorated sheet cake
[208]
for a birthday, you're
probably good to go.
[211]
But if you're looking for a fancier cake
[213]
for like a wedding, that's
probably not gonna run
[215]
on your food stamps card.
[217]
But you can buy modestly decorated cakes
[219]
from the bakery on food stamps.
[222]
Number five, gift baskets.
[225]
Just like with birthday cakes,
[227]
you can buy gift baskets on food stamps,
[229]
as long as at least half the
value of the item is edible.
[233]
That means you can buy
Easter baskets full of candy,
[236]
but not Easter baskets full of toys.
[238]
On Valentine's day, you
can buy a little bear
[240]
with the big box of chocolates,
[242]
but not a big bear with the
little box of chocolates.
[245]
And of course at Christmas time,
[247]
if you're so inclined, you can buy those
[249]
super nasty tins of
popcorn because allegedly,
[251]
that's edible too.
[252]
So again, you can buy gift
baskets on your food stamps card
[257]
as long as at least half
of the purchase value
[261]
is the edible portion.
[263]
Number six, seeds and live plants.
[267]
This is definitely my favorite
thing that you can buy
[269]
with food stamps.
[270]
You can go and you can
buy seeds, live plants,
[273]
even fruit trees with
your food stamps card.
[276]
You can't buy the things that
you need to grow those things
[279]
like soil or pots or anything like that,
[282]
but you can get the actual plant itself
[286]
on your food stamps card.
[288]
Now the downside to this
is that many retailers
[290]
are not aware of this aspect of the law.
[292]
We've had a lot of readers
come back to the website
[295]
and explain that their
local retailer didn't know
[299]
that this was legal and gave
them some trouble about it.
[301]
So for clarification,
I took it to the USDA
[304]
and I got this email in response.
[306]
The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 states
[309]
that SNAP households may use SNAP benefits
[312]
to purchase seeds and plants,
[315]
which produce food for consumption.
[317]
Eligible seeds and plants include
vegetable seeds and plants
[321]
that produce food such as
tomato and green pepper plants.
[325]
Other eligible items include fruit trees,
[327]
food-producing roots, bushes and bulbs
[331]
such as asparagus roots and berry bushes.
[334]
Seeds and plants that
produce cooking spices
[337]
are also eligible for
purchase with SNAP benefits.
[340]
Accordingly, some herb plants
produce for consumption
[343]
and are eligible for
purchase with SNAP benefits,
[346]
while others do not produce
food for consumption
[349]
and are not eligible for
purchase with SNAP benefits.
[352]
Each herb plant sold at the
market will have to be weighed
[355]
under this factor to
determine SNAP eligibility.
[358]
For example, most mint,
spearmint, cilantro,
[362]
basil, sage and oregano plants
produce food for consumption
[367]
and are eligible for
purchase with SNAP benefit.
[370]
However, some varieties of sage plants
[372]
are purely ornamental, do not
produce food for consumption
[376]
and are thus ineligible for
purchase with SNAP benefit.
[381]
It should also be noted that
any plant or seed purchased
[384]
with SNAP benefits should
be purchased to grow food
[387]
for the SNAP household and
not for commercial use.
[391]
One of my very favorite things
[392]
about running Low Income
Relief is being able to see
[395]
the difference that our
website makes in other's lives.
[398]
So I'd like to share with
you some of the messages
[401]
and the pictures that I've
received from our readers
[403]
who have tried this and
had great success with it.
[407]
Amber from Muscle Shoals, Alabama said,
[410]
I came across your page on Facebook
[412]
and have been reading all the articles.
[414]
One I ran across was
things you didn't know
[416]
you can use with your EBT card.
[418]
I found out you could buy
seeds to plant for a garden,
[421]
so that's what I did.
[422]
Here's a photo.
[424]
Coral from Denton, Maryland said,
[427]
Low Income Relief has
helped my family and I
[429]
in more ways than one.
[431]
I have learned so much
from Low Income Relief
[433]
about all the benefits
of having an EBT card.
[436]
One of my favorite benefits
of having an EBT card
[438]
is that I can buy fresh produce and seeds.
[441]
And with just a few cents and
some hard work and patience,
[444]
I now have a beautiful
garden that consists
[446]
of grapes, tomatoes, corn,
squash, cucumber, pears
[450]
and a lot of other fresh
fruits and vegetables.
[453]
My garden supplies more than
enough for my family and I,
[456]
so with all the extra food I grew,
[458]
I donate it to other families in need.
[461]
I think those are fantastic.
[463]
But if you're like me and
you don't have a green thumb
[465]
and you can't grow
anything to save your life,
[468]
probably not a good idea
to spend your food stamps
[470]
on seeds and plants.
[472]
You can, however, take those benefits
[474]
to your local farmers market.
[476]
Many of them have dollar
matching programs.
[478]
So if you'll spend $20 on your card,
[481]
they'll send you home with $40 in produce.
[483]
It's a great way to buy
affordable, healthy food
[486]
for your family.
[487]
Number seven, hunting
and fishing equipment.
[491]
If you live in rural Alaska,
you may be able to use
[493]
your food stamps funds to
buy knives, fishing nets
[497]
and even harpoons so that
you can hunt and fish
[500]
to sustain your family year round.
[502]
The government has authorized
this because they know
[504]
that grocery stores aren't exactly common
[507]
in the rural parts of Alaska.
[510]
Other states have also recognized
that hunting and fishing
[513]
is a great way for a family to
stretch their grocery budget.
[516]
So there are many states
that will let you get
[518]
a free hunting or fishing license
[520]
if you qualify based on
income for food stamps.
[523]
For more information about that,
[525]
you're welcome to visit our website
[526]
at LowIncomeRelief.com/EBT.
[530]
Well, that's it!
[531]
Those are the seven most
surprising things I found
[533]
that you can buy with food stamps.
[535]
If you do get food stamps,
I encourage you to visit
[538]
our website at LowIncomeRelief.com/EBT
[542]
to find out how you may qualify
[544]
for $5 Internet, free museum
admission and so much more.
[548]
At Low Income Relief, we help millions
[550]
of low income Americans save
money and get free stuff.
[554]
Some of our most popular articles include
[556]
how to get $5 Internet, how
to get free home repair grants
[560]
and how to get free and
low cost veterinary care
[563]
for your pets.
[564]
We also have an extensive
list of over 400 freebies
[567]
and deals you can get
with the food stamps card.
[570]
For more information, visit us online
[573]
at LowIncomeRelief.com.
Most Recent Videos:
You can go back to the homepage right here: Homepage