I’ve Lived on Food Stamps – and Couldn’t Wait To Get Off

I live in California.  I had a tenant that has $200,000 and new Camry in assets and refused to look for a job.  He was able to get and receive Food Stamps.  Although he had the money to pay rent, he refused to do so.  As I was getting ready to evict him, he left without telling me and has not forwarding address.  The guy in 52 years old and has a Masters' degree. I'm just amazed at how a guy can have that much in cash assets and still get food stamps.  In my opinion, this is completely wrong and a clear abuse of the purpose of food stamps.  I feel the money he gets should be spent on a person who is trying their best to get a job.

I think that rather than banning organic foods, they should ban junk foods. We buy little to no junk food and we spend a lot less than most Americans do on food. Healthy food costs less in most places in America. Especially here in the West. There are lots of places to buy cheap, whole foods. Produce is the bulk of our groceries and I can say that it costs a lot less. My parents spend twice as much on food and get half as much as we do. They are always buying meat and other junk.

I know two woman that live in Wauconda Washington that cheat the hell out of the system.  They have snowmobiles, ATV's and nice trucks.  They live rent free on a relatives property and claim they pay rent, so they get cash as well.  They have made a career out of getting sympathy from people and getting other things for free.  One of them is also on disability and rides both the snowmobile and the ATV.  In addition to that they conned an elderly neighbor and my best friend out of thousands upon thousands of dollars which, of course they don't claim.  I want so much to turn this hillbilly trash in to someone and hope they go to jail!  Should I turn them in? 

I'm a 29 yr old single mother who receives food stamps and medical assistance for me and my 6yr old son . Yes it is a whole lot of help , espeacialy the medical , i can not afford to lose my medical at all but i have a very big problem food stamps and medical dont pay for my rent and other bills . does any one know how it works when you receive these assistance if your able to work ? and is there a certain amount of hours allowed to work ? if any one knows please comment me back . thanks alot .

Organic food is NOT a luxury.  GMO foods are pesticide and chemical laden...it is proven this causes cancer, heart disease, diabetes and a host of other serious chronic illnesses.  I'm allergic to eating anything that has chemicals in it, and get seriously ill if I eat GMOs(which is in all conventional produce and boxed foods, corn, wheat, soy), I'm also gluten intolerant. Therefore, by your ridiculous comment, I should just starve.  Educate yourself, before rambling about Organic food.  Why do you think California is trying so desperately to pass Prop 37.   Conventional food IS Poison.

Jeff,

In 2011, I graduated from college in the top ten percent of my class while working two, sometimes three jobs to support myself. I worked my tail off to do well in school while making ends meet with food service, work study, and scholarship jobs because I thought that at the end of my collegiate journey there would be a world of job opportunities that offered luxuries such as health care and paid sick days.

It's August of 2012, and I work two entry-level food service jobs with no benefits whatsoever. "Just get a better job." Since February, I've applied to over 200 jobs of all shapes and sizes, been on approximately 25 interviews, and am back to where I started: doing jobs I could have done without even a GED. "Well, just move." Moving costs money. Lots of money. Money I, like many others in this country and around the world, don't have.

My fiance and I receive SNAP benefits because if we didn't, we wouldn't eat. I also receive women's Medicaid which entitles me to one yearly visit to an approved Ob-Gyn. I was hesitant to apply for both of these programs, not for pride, but because I felt like we didn't deserve them; that there are families and elderly people who need it more and I'd literally be taking food out of their mouths.

With the exception of my beater car and very expensive musical instrument (which is now in pawn and something that I used to make extra money), I have no assets. I'd sell the car, but I still owe money on it and I'm a delivery driver. I have a cell phone that requires phone cards, so when I have the money I purchase minutes for it, but most of the time I find a payphone. I don't have a computer or internet, so I go to the library to find jobs, work on my resume, and check my e-mail. Sometimes my power, water, or gas get shut off. I live with it until I can scrounge up the money to pay the bill.

What am I getting at with this? The $100 per month that I receive to feed both my fiance and myself is $100 we can be putting toward bills, debts, and, dare I say, savings. No matter what the program, SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, CHIP, unemployment--there will be abuses of the system, but everything depends on the individual. Being as that I've lived in poverty my whole life, been homeless twice, and work constantly alongside people who are in the same financial boat, I've found that more often than not, these people want a way out.

The "hand-up" versus "hand-out" philosophy. Well, there are few opportunities for a hand-up at this point in time, so those of us who struggle, work constantly at thankless, demanding, and wholly unsubstantial jobs, we need anything and everything to help us stay afloat.

Me and my wife both worked all of our lives and as a matter of fact I am a 2 time combat vet with 13 years in service I have only been offered temporary/contract  jobs since leaving we are vegetarian and organic eaters before she lost her job at the hospital and has only been offered temp work. As such we were forced into food stamps but think about this the local co-op is 1) Pesticide and hormone free which is perferable for us to put in our bodies.  2) You support the local economy instead of the global economy which actually makes more jobs.  3) Why should I be forced into eating processed foods which are known to cause high blood pressure, heart disease, as well as a slew of other health problems.  4) Our food stamps last us a whole month with out going into our personal fianace as long as you shop carefully so maybe we can teach you to shop.

My two problems with food stamp programs are 1. There is little done in the way of verification.  I've known several people on it, and all you bring is your ID, paycheck, and a bank statement.  In my state you have to be below a certain income based upon your family size and you have to have less than $X in your bank account.  And, 2.  The verification was on the honor system.  They did not check to see if you had more than one bank account.  For instance, you could have a checking account with little money in it and use that when you apply for food stamps, when in reality you have another checking account that you have your money in, but the food stamp office would never know about it.

As an Americorps member, I found that receiving food stamps as part of the compensation was kind of weird. I was employed, and I was doing good work for the community, but people still look down on anyone who receives government assistance. I had to work on my own pride, too. And then I found that the monthly benefit I qualified for was almost twice what I needed to feed myself (in an expensive area). How can others barely be getting by? And how is it fair when people who make only slightly more than I do, do not qualify for enough in assistance to buy their groceries? They still need food!

I think basing eligibility just on income isn't right. But would I want to get rid of the program? No. Something is better than nothing. A reform would be welcome though.

I have experience with both Pennsylvania and New York State. I remember when you had to list items such as your car and anything you could sell. So many people got upset over this because you had to give up everything just to get help that the laws finally changed. New York currently has limits set so low that your GROSS income has to be under $600 per month. Who the hell can live on that? I very much remember having a part-time job (30 hours) and being $80 over in gross wages for assistance in NY.

Now, while I do agree that people should be seeking a way out, saving for that way or finding the income isn't always that close to reality. In the area I currently live in, rent has shot up between two and three times what it was last year when they discovered natural gas in the hills around us. Now no one can afford rent but the gas drillers and those lucky enough to find work with them. The economic downturn nationwide caused lots of problems which cannot be addressed individually. So, the need for the program is still there.

The problem is in the antiquated solution of "go find a job that pays more". Or the old theory of "just move to a better area". The solution, and the system, are also becoming quickly outdated. You honestly have to be in line at the one church where free food is given away each month to understand the need. I'm not sure if the people gave up or the system gave up on the people.

Great post! I have a few thoughts on this, as I just looked into this program for our family when I became unemployed. In Hawaii, there is an asset test ($3k in assets or less for a family of 3) you have to pass in order to qualify for welfare like food stamps. The only reason I qualify for state health is because I am pregnant and my son is a minor. If those weren't the case, I would be shelling out $800 a month for healthcare for the two of us.

The one thing I do disagree with you about is the use of food stamps for organic food. When it comes down to it, getting organic milk for my son is extremely important for me because he is 19 months old. When a child is that young, if it is possible to get milk that is free of hormones it is, to me, one of our higher priorities. It's just that their bodies are so fragile and while he's so young, we want him to be as hormone and pesticide free as possible.

Apart from that, if you're talking millionaires who are on food stamps and getting their organic truffle oil, well then, perhaps a touch of reality would be good for them.

Jeff, thank you for sharing your perspective. How long were you on food stamps for, and do your parents know? I'd think they'd help out no?

Shot you an e-mail Sunday night. You get it? Sam

I think not letting people go hungry is a worthy goal of such a program. There are probably improvements that could be made to the system. Glad you were able to get off.

"You aren’t actually given money, which makes it difficult to cheat the system and buy anything other than food." I've done a fair amount of reading on welfare programs in general, and (as you might imagine) administration is sort of a mess. At one point Milton Friedman suggested replacing welfare programs with one single transfer payment. He estimated that the administrative burden was around 2/3 of the program - and this was in the 60s and 70s. Replacing welfare programs with a negative income tax would cost a lot less to run, however I feel that a lot of people would be against it due to the freedom that it would bring.

Currently, governments run welfare programs for health, food, heating/air conditioning, housing, and many other individual things. A NIT would allow an enrollee to choose how best to spend their own funds, which seems to me a more fair system (not to mention a system which allows more pride) than a system where government picks the categories of spending.

This is a really interesting perspective to me as I have never read anything from someone who actually used these services. Clearly you benefited from them and were able to work your way out of the situation. But is that the norm or is the alternative of staying on them for life more likely?

That's also really silly that they don't take assets into account...

I think they need to be more strict with the rules on food stamps, and also lax in other areas. Where I live, you can't have more than $3,000 in any type of assets to qualify, and this basically secludes a lot of people just because there house or something might have equity in it.