Get help when food stamp cuts occur.
When your SNAP food stamps have been cut, which can happen as states reduce their funding or when eligibility requirements change, there is assistance available. Many individuals may even have their benefits completely stopped. When this happens, there are different steps people can take in order to minimize the impact to their household of any food stamp reduction.
Below we will show people how to survive the impact to their monthly budget when benefits have been reduced. With almost 45 million Americans currently enrolled into the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food stamp program, many people obviously rely on the government to help feed their families. Any cut to their benefits, no matter how small, will often have a major impact.
The reason this may occur is that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is often reducing funding to the states to more manageable levels. Since state's may now have less federal government money to spend to provide food stamps, benefits are often being cut or eligibility guidelines are being changed.
The cutbacks concurring will often be for Americans age 18 to 49 that are able bodied and can work. The disabled, seniors, pregnant women, and households with young kids under the age of 18 may be exempt from a reduction in their food stamp payments. People in job training programs or that are mentally ill may also not be impacted.
There are steps people can take to manage a budget when food stamps are reduced, as it is often just a matter of time before it happens. As the USDA and states are having a difficult time in justifying these extra entitlements being paid out when considering the strong job market and constant cutback to government budgets. For people who are impacted by a lower food stamp payment being placed on an EBT card, some things to do are the following.
Alternative steps to take when food stamps are cut
If a family is no longer qualified for any public aid programs, whether SNAP, vouchers from WIC or others, be sure to look into charities and non-profits in your town or city. Many operate food pantries for the low income.
For people who stop by a pantry, or more than one, say 3 times per month that alone can allow them to get anywhere from $50 to $100 per month in free groceries for their family. With many people receiving a few hundred dollars per month from SNAP, a pantry can more than offset that reduction. Find a listing of food banks and pantries by state.
Shop smarter and budget more effectively. Families that use coupons (many of which can be printed off the internet for free), that review store flyers and sales, sign up for discount cards, and buy store name brands, it is possible to reduce a grocery bill from 10 to 20%. That is easy to do.
Many people use this tactic to save as much as 50% per month on their grocery bills. That is a large amount of money, and shopping smarter is an easy step to take in how to offset any reduction in SNAP food stamp reductions.
There are many resources that offer cheap groceries as well, and they are often healthy. If your household is faced with cutbacks, the family can still eat healthy on a limited budget. People often think it is impossible to buy healthy, affordable food for their family when their benefits are stopped. This is not true.
Even your household is one of the millions of people having a reduction in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance / SNAP benefit payments or maybe the government has sopped making payments, those families can still buy fresh fruits, vegetables, and more. There are national delivery services for low income families that sell inexpensive groceries at up to 40% off. It is possible to shop smarter, find cheaper yet quality food, and more effectively and to also cook healthier meals. This is an alternative when food stamp payments are reduced. Find sources of cheap groceries.
There may be other more "dramatic steps". For people facing a reduction in food stamps for their family, it is important to know about it as soon as possible. This then provides time to adjust accordingly. For example, there are instances in which people impacted by a cutback to food stamps have moved back home with parents or move in with friends/family. Thousands of other people turn to soup kitchens for a meal or two per week. This then allows them to save more money so they can afford to buy groceries for their family each month. So major lifestyle changes such as those can be explored too.
While you may agree or not with the USDA policies on cutting back the EBT card assistance to families living near poverty levels, the fact is that government benefits such as food stamps and many others will continue to be reduced. Millions of other households will likely have reductions take place. While it may start with as many as one million American impacted by these cuts to their SNAP benefits, the number impacted will increase over from there over the next few years.
The economy is much stronger now than it was in the past, and there is a constant struggle for the government reducing budget deficits. The federal and state governments can’t justify paying the same amount of tax dollars on these entitlement programs. So prepare your family for a reduction in SNAP food stamps. Even if you are not impacted now, it is just a matter of time.
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