I tried to titled the post eating on a food stamp "budget," to avoid simply talking about food stamps themselves.  I apologize for the confusion.

Realizing many low-income people are actually considered too wealthy to receive food stamp benefits (but have to skimp and save just to feed themselves), my post is really about eating healthy on a tight budget and how unexpected (yet often routine) expenses can greatly dimish the amount of money available for food. 

Hope that clears things up.

I am a person who nearly qualifies for foods stamps, a couple of dollars away.   I run a homeless crisis hot line in Maine. People who hasn't eaten in days call us. We give them information and occasionally buy food.

Greg you are close to the truth, there must be an  illegal way of selling the credits on ebt cards.  How that would work I must admit I am not savvy enough to know. I am lucky to be able to post here twitter and face-book will not allow me to post. Think its something to do with my computer itself.

Back to how do you repair a car on food stamps?  You get a crook who will pay 50 cents on a dollar then instead of $100 in food. you have $50 for repairs. That is if you are lucky enough to have a local crook.  Some give only 25 cents on a dollar

I will allow you to call these food stamp swappers theifs, only if you can tell me in workable detail, how else do they survive?

There is something WRONG with a system which turn good people into cheats.

The governments own figures says in 16 states SSI does not pay enough to pay the average rent. Yet an SSI Check can mean you make to much for SNAP. I can see whaT IS WRONG, with a system which gives 25%-50% of those in need Less than it really cost to eat.

PS If it were just your self making $1.000 a month you would not qualify for SNAP.  In many states, you would require 3 or 4 children to get $250 ebt a month. FOOD Stamps are NOT DESIGNED to cover the full need.

Nor is everyone in poverty eligible to receive them. 2/3 of those in real poverty cannot buy food, and repair an appliance are not considered as being in poverty.

The expectation with Food Stamps is that food stamps is NOT your entire budget for food but that you will contribute cash in addition to the food stamps toward buying food.  The reality is that whomever made the guidelines needs to step out of their ivory tower and see what modern expenses and modern poverty are like because all too often and in all too many cases because what the guidelines EXPECT simply is IMPOSSIBLE in reality.  For example, the guidelines EXPECT that you will ONLY be spending ONE THIRD of your income or up to $389/mo (which ever is less) toward rent.  I'd love to know where to find those rent prices, as far as I can tell they DO NOT exist and around here entry level rents are easily at least $550/mo for something in a roach motel type apartment building.  It's been established by groups like www.workingpoorfamilies.com (I think that's their URL) that in many places what the poor pay for rent is more like half their income, which is far above the expected or allowed amount.

Another well out of line expectation is your car.  They allow $2000 if you're disabled.  A $2000 car very likely won't run.  I know, I've had too many of them - and they're SUPPOSED to be my transportation to medical appointments, yet I can't sell them (they become a cash asset) and I can't buy anything that's worth more or the asset still counts against me.  I'm not sure what the allowance is for families with children.

Factor in similarly out of touch ideas and by the time you get to the point in your budget where they THINK you're going to have some money to spend on food, there's simply NOT any money.  Add to this that the money given via food stamps only barely begins to buy food because they clearly have NO idea what food actually costs... Well, the problem becomes painfully obvious and that's even without unexpected bills like a car repair.

It doesn't help that the policies are rooted in a very mistaken idea about poverty.  The Federal Poverty Line is an incredibly bad way of figuring poverty because its based on one woman's assumptions and presumptions about what expenses were in the 60's and how they should relate to the family budget as extrapolated from a report about food costs.  How we can have any sort of honest help for the poor - or an honest assessment of this nation's poverty - using this as a basis, is quite disturbing to try to figure out.

The Federal Poverty Guideline is based on statistics that were established back in 1962.  A great website to learn more about poverty is www.combarriers.com.  The site is Communication Across Barriers and the president is Donna Beegle.  Her story is truly inspirational and she is one of my personal heroes.

Food stamp should not be accountable as income, Credit cards should be fair to all American to allow them to accuess to Equal Credit Opportunity accuse to Credit Card offers rather then denying he or she accuses to equal credit opportunities in this Country.

Especially the prices of food today has risen so high today that is driven people out of the supermarkets and other retail because the made too much profits. It should not be that way in the United States of America we the richest country in the world. Every Americans should have $5,000.00 a month to be able to live on that what is badly need in American that will end poverty.

Jocelyn Gallant

Salem, New Hampshire  

Jun 20, 2009

Senator Judd Gregg
Constitution and Delaware Avenues, NE
Washington, DC 20510-2904

Dear  Senator Gregg,

I am writing to urge you to  include long term services and supports in
health care reform.  Please co-sponsor and support the Community Choice
Act (S. 683/H.R. 1670) and the CLASS Act (S. 697/H.R. 1721).

The Nation lacks a system to adequately and efficiently deliver high
quality long-term services and supports.

Nearly half of all funding for these services is now provided through
Medicaid, which requires individuals to become and remain poor to
receive the help they need. There is also an institutional bias in
Medicaid which directs approximately two-thirds of all spending to
nursing homes and other institutions instead of preferred and more cost
effective community-based services and supports.

We must strengthen and sustain the Medicaid safety net for Americans
with limited means. Medicaid is the primary payer for long-term
services and supports, but states are having an increasingly difficult
time affording it. Almost 10% of state budgets are now spent on
Medicaid long-term services and supports.

I urge you to co-sponsor the two bills that address these critical
issues and include them a health care reform package: The Community
Choice Act (S. 683/H.R. 1670); and the CLASS Act (S. 697/H.R. 1721).

Sincerely,

Ms. Jocelyn Gallant
5 Friendship Dr
Salem, NH 03079-3016