- You might qualify for even more Food Stamps money
every month, and we're gonna show you how.
Hi, I'm Nicole from LowIncomeRelief.com
where we help millions of Americans save money
and get free stuff.
Today I want to talk to you about
how you can legally and legitimately
increase the amount of Food Stamps
you're getting every month.
We've heard from countless people
who are only getting $15 a month in Food Stamps,
and that's not enough to get by.
We've heard from a lot of people, including seniors,
who have to decide whether they're gonna buy
their medications or their food,
with the little bit of cash resources
that they have during the month.
We've heard from several people
who have explained that the food banks in their area
are networked together,
so they can't get more than three days worth of food
from any food bank in their area.
And we've had a few explain that they live
on one peanut butter and jelly sandwich a day, or worse,
because it's all that they can afford.
And these stories break my heart.
So I took it to the internet,
and I did what I do,
spent days doing research on what we could potentially do
to put more food on the tables
of those who need it the most.
And this video and the corresponding article
at LowIncomeRelief.com,
are the result of all that research.
So today we're gonna break down
how the Food Stamps algorithm works,
how they decide what you're gonna get
every month in Food Stamps,
and what you can do to make sure
that your information is reported accurately,
so you're getting the most amount of Food Stamps
that you can qualify for.
As the owner of LowIncomeRelief.com
I take our accuracy very seriously.
So all the information that I'm gonna present
to you here today,
is accurate, factual, and verifiable.
But, it is your responsibility to make sure
that you're accurately representing your situation
at the Food Stamps office.
At no point in this or any video,
will I ever recommend that you commit fraud.
You absolutely should not commit fraud.
Do not lie to the Food Stamps office,
or any government office, or anybody in general,
just be honest, it's important.
Now that being said, it's not magic,
it's not a mystery.
The people at the Food Stamps office
don't just pull a number out of a hat for you.
There is an actual algorithm that they use
to determine how much you qualify for each month.
That's what we found in our research
and that's what we're gonna present to you here today.
So that you can see how it works
and what you can do
to make sure that you're getting all the deductions
that you might qualify for,
and the most amount of Food Stamps possible every month.
Gross income.
Gross income is what you earn before taxes
and deductions are taken out.
It can be easy to figure out for an individual,
but you have to report your gross income
for your whole household.
So that leads you to the question,
who's in your household anyway?
Now if you're a nuclear family unit,
with just you and your kids,
that can be pretty straightforward.
By default, spouses, children,
and the parents of your children,
are included in your household,
as long as you're living together.
However, if you're an adult child,
who's moved back in with your parents,
or you have roommates, or live-in caregiver,
it can get complicated.
Because, unless you are both living together,
and purchasing and preparing your food together,
you're not part of the same SNAP household.
And including those people's income,
can mean less Food Stamps for you.
So you need to be very clear on who is in your household,
whose income needs to be counted,
and if you have any questions,
be sure to ask your caseworker.
Deductions.
Whether or not it's fair for your individual circumstances,
you are expected to contribute 30%
of your household's net income
towards your food purchases every month.
So these deductions are really important,
because they are the difference
between your gross income and your net income.
So the Food Stamps office really needs to know
about the money you're spending on housing,
utilities, medical expenses, child support.
We're gonna go over all of those deductions
that are available to you in greater detail.
So I hope you'll stick around,
because in the course of my research,
I found out that some of these deductions
are only claimed by 2% to 5% of all SNAP households.
That means that a lot of people are going out
without the benefits they could qualify for.
Standard deduction.
The standard deduction is one that every household gets.
If you get Food Stamps, you're already getting this.
It's a flat rate deduction
that counts against your gross income,
and is intended to compensate
for things that every household needs to buy,
like toilet paper and laundry soap.
Everybody has to buy those things,
and it would be a really big nightmare
for the Food Stamps office and for you,
if you had to itemize
each one of those purchases individually.
So thaYt's what the standard deduction is for.
Earnings deduction.
If you're working at a normal job,
and you're bringing home a paycheck,
and you submit those earnings to the Food Stamps office,
they're automatically going to ignore 20% of your income.
That counts as a deduction,
because it's used to compensate for things like,
transportation to and from work,
uniforms, taxes, other work related expenses.
So if you're working at a job,
you might want to double check with your caseworker,
make sure that you're getting that earnings deduction,
so that your income is calculated correctly.
Shelter deduction.
Housing is expensive.
In most cases, it's a household's single biggest expense.
It's important to make sure
that the Food Stamps office knows,
how much you're spending on your rent or your mortgage,
as well as your utilities, your basic phone service,
and the insurance you may have,
and even any home repairs you may be doing.
These deductions can make a huge difference
in the amount of Food Stamps you're receiving.
So it's very important that this information
is reported correctly.
If you've had a raise in your rent or your utilities,
or you're not sure if this information
is accurately reflected on your paperwork,
contact your caseworker right away.
Homeless shelter deductions.
Being homeless can be expensive too.
And it's a lot harder to prove those expenses on paper.
If you are homeless,
there are several states that are now rolling out
homeless shelter deductions
that can be made to your income also.
These are generally available to people
who are living in hotels, living in homeless shelters,
maybe couch surfing with friends.
If this is your situation,
you should let your caseworker know,
and see if that exemption is available in your state.
Child support deduction.
If you are paying child support
to a child that doesn't live in your home,
than your caseworker needs to know.
That money isn't staying in your household,
so it shouldn't count against you,
when they're calculating
what your food contribution should be.
The study that I read indicated that only 2%
of Food Stamps households are using this deduction.
Which may mean that there are many people
missing out on benefits that they may qualify for.
Medical expense deduction.
Only about 5% of SNAP households
are claiming this deductions.
And it can make a huge difference.
The medical expense deduction is designed to offset
any out of pocket medical expenses you may have.
If you're spending more than $35 a month out of pocket
on your prescription medications,
over the counter medications, doctor bills,
hospital bills, in home caregiver services,
transportation to and from doctors' appointments,
or even from getting your prescriptions.
That's something that you can count as a deduction
against your income.
In some states, you may even be able to count things like,
pet food for a trained service animal,
veterinary care for a trained service animal,
a relative caregiver, specialty care,
eyeglasses, contact lenses, hearing aids, batteries,
incontinence supplies, walkers,
durable medical equipment,
and even disability modifications made to your home.
Once again, to be able to count those expenses,
you either need to have someone in your household
who is over the age of 60,
or someone who is a disabled person of any age.
You may be asked to show receipts and prove those expenses,
so make sure you're prepared with that paperwork
when you pursue this deduction.
Next, we need to calculate your contribution.
Your contribution is supposed to be 30% of your net income.
So what the food stamp office is gonna do,
is they're gonna take your gross income,
they're gonna remove their deductions,
and what remains is going to be your net income.
They're gonna take 30% of that,
and they're gonna call that
your expected family contribution
to your household's food purchases for the month.
After that, all that's left is to figure out
how much you will be getting in Food Stamps every month.
And that's done by looking at the maximum benefits table
for your year and household's size,
and subtracting your family's expected family contribution
that we calculated in the last step.
Now if you're getting Food Stamps,
you also need to know about
some of the other programs we found.
We have found more than 450 freebies and deals
for people with Food Stamps cards.
I can't go over it all on this video,
but you can see our full list
at LowIncomeRelief.com/EBT
That's all I have for you in this video.
If you have any other questions about Food Stamps,
fire away in the comments.
Otherwise, subscribe to our channel,
check out our other videos,
and pop by LowIncomeRelief.com
to see all the information we have
about how you can save money and get free stuff.
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