If you’ve always thought that you can only buy staple items like meat, bread, and milk with food stamps (now commonly called SNAP benefits), that’s actually not correct.
You might be surprised at what people buy with food stamps, legally and not!
Online Food Orders
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With the EBT card that has mostly replaced actual stamps, you can order eligible items online. This isn’t very efficient, though, since the funds can’t apply to delivery fees, service charges, and other costs that online orders often include.
Water and Ice
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Since most Americans of all income levels have access to safe drinking water in their homes, you might think food stamps wouldn’t cover purchases of bottled water. They do, though, and you can also purchase bags of ice.
Plant Seeds and Seedlings
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If what you plant can produce food, you can use food stamps for it. For people good at gardening, this is a really practical and efficient way of using SNAP benefits.
Restaurant Meals
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Currently, only a handful of states allow for this. There are strict eligibility requirements, though, and they turn on factors like age, disability, and homelessness. So no, the typical family with SNAP benefits can’t use them at McDonald’s, which many critics mistakenly believe they can.
Hunting and Fishing Gear
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If you’re an avid hunter or fisher, don’t start thinking you can apply for SNAP benefits to get free gear. This particular benefit is extremely limited. For example, it applies to people in remote areas of Alaska where grocery options are sparse or nonexistent and people hunt and fish for their own food.
Cold Beverages
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If it’s intended for home consumption instead of in-store consumption, it’s covered. For example, you can’t use SNAP benefits for a soda at a movie theater, but you can for a bottle of soda you might sip from while in line at a grocery store.
Brew-Yourself Coffee and Tea
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You can’t walk into Starbucks and use an EBT card for a freshly brewed latte. However, you can use it for coffee and tea that you would brew yourself at home.
Protein and Meal-Replacement Bars, Powders, and Shakes
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These are eligible, but there’s a catch that benefits recipients have to be aware of. This catch is that the items must have Nutrition Facts labels, not Supplement Facts labels.
Baby Formula
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SNAP benefits cover baby formula, cereals, juices, and other baby foods so that infants and toddlers get the nourishment they need. They do not, however, cover things such as diapers and clothes.
Live Seafood
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Yes, you can go into a grocery store and buy live lobster, shrimp, clams, and other seafood for consumption. These items tend to be expensive, though, so it’s a pretty poor use of the benefits.
10 Beers American Boomers Can’t Stop Guzzling
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Each generation has its favorites when it comes to everything from apps to restaurants. They have clear preferences for certain beers as well. Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millenials each have favorite beers that are their go-to beverage for a night out.
According to Visual Capitalist, these are the most popular beers for each of these generations.
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