As the Emergency Allotment program ends in states nationwide, more and more people (especially single seniors) are suddenly receiving only $23 in food stamps each month. Why?
The COLA adjustments in October 2021 established $23 per month as the new minimum amount for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Once you apply for food stamps and you’re approved, the amount of your benefits are based on many different factors including your income and expenses. If your income is too high or your expenses are too low, you may find yourself receiving the minimum amount of benefits.
If this has happened to you, you probably have a lot of questions and that’s completely understandable. You may be wondering why this happened so suddenly and what you’re supposed to do with just $23 per month.
We’ll address those concerns and help you figure out how you can get more benefits in this article.
Why do I only get $23 in food stamps?
The short answer is that $23 is the minimum food stamps allotment in the United States. This is the lowest amount of benefits that a household can receive if they are eligible for assistance.
The current minimums are:
| Location | Minimum Monthly Allotment |
| 48 States & DC | $23 |
| Alaska (Urban) | $28 |
| Alaska (Rural 1) | $36 |
| Alaska (Rural 2) | $44 |
| Guam | $33 |
| Hawaii | $43 |
| Virgin Islands | $29 |
This number has steadily increased with each COLA adjustment over the last few years. When I first started reporting on this, the minimum amount was just $15 per month!
Can I get more than $23 per month?
The algorithm used to calculate your benefits is complicated. It’s based on your income, household size and expenses. If any of that information is entered incorrectly, then it can drastically reduce the amount of benefits that you receive.
If you’re stuck with the minimum balance, there are a few things you can do to help increase the amount that you are receiving.
Make sure you’ve calculated your household correctly.
Most people assume that their SNAP household is everyone they live with but that isn’t always true. In order to count as a SNAP household, you have to live together and prepare food together. If you don’t share food with them, they shouldn’t be included in your household.
For example, Gary and Susan are retired, 65-year-old grandparents. They live on a fixed income and need help with grocery expenses due to some medical bills that are piling up. Their 20-year-old granddaughter, Elizabeth, moved in with them while she’s going to college. She’s never home and pays them $50 per month to cover their internet service. They never eat together because she spends all of her time at school or work or with friends.
If Gary and Susan included Elizabeth in their food stamps application, they may not get as much as they should. They would have to include her income and that would drastically reduce the amount of money they could be eligible for. However, since Elizabeth does not share food with them or contribute meaningfully to their expenses, she really shouldn’t be included in their household. She is a separate household for SNAP purposes. Gary and Susan would have to count the $50 she pays as income on their application unless Elizabeth paid the internet company directly.
As you can see, the rules about SNAP households can be very complicated. It’s important to make sure that you understand the rules and know what you’re doing so you don’t mess up on your application.
Update your income and expense information.
Has your rent gone up? Has your income gone down? These things can affect how much you receive in SNAP benefits. If you don’t update the office with your latest numbers, you may not be receiving the correct amount.
In addition, seniors and disabled people may be able to count their out-of-pocket medical expenses as deductions on their application. This can also help you receive more in food benefits each month. To understand the medical expense deduction, it’s important to understand how those deductions work.
What can you do with $23 in food stamps?
Don’t think that $23 is worth it? Think again! There are many people who decide not to follow through on their applications when they realize they may not get very much in benefits, but that’s always a mistake. Just having an EBT card can unlock a lot of benefits for you and your household.
Unlock 1,000+ EBT discounts.
There are over 1,000 discounts and deals you can get just by having an EBT card. It doesn’t matter how much you receive every month, just that you have the card in your possession and you’re currently receiving benefits.
If you have an EBT card, you can get a discount on everything from Amazon Prime to zoo admission! There are some crazy incredible deals there that are definitely worth checking out.
Buy seeds and plants to produce your own food.
Sure, $23 may not go very far in the produce section… but that can buy a lot of seeds! If you have space for a few pots, you can grow your own plants that will produce food again and again for your household.
Many people don’t realize that you can buy seeds and produce-bearing plants (including fruit trees) with your SNAP EBT benefits. This is part of the food stamps law, and can be very beneficial for low income families.
Shop salvage stores without sales tax.
When you buy with EBT, you won’t be charged sales tax on food purchases. This can help you stretch those benefits further.
To save even more money, try shopping at a salvage grocer! These stores sell food at a steep discount because they focus on food that is overstocked, misprinted, or otherwise too imperfect for name-brand grocery stores. The produce may be ugly and the boxes may have typos, but the food is still safe to eat and it can save you a lot of money.
Double your benefits at the farmer’s market.
Many farmer’s markets offer double-up programs that can help you get twice as much food as you pay for! This is a great way to stock up on fresh produce and make the most of those EBT benefits.
Of course, many markets only operate seasonally and that can be a challenge… but in those summer months, it’s worth strategizing your shopping!
Buy in bulk or wait for sales.
Your food benefits will roll over to the next month if they aren’t used. You just need to make sure to use them before they expire. Typically, those benefits won’t expire until 9-12 months after they are deposited.
If you are having a hard time feeling like it’s worth it to whip out the card for $23 in benefits, let the benefits stack up for three months or so and then try shopping at a bulk retailer like Costco for staples.
What else do you need to know about food stamps?
It seems like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Benefits should be easy to understand but many government assistance programs are unnecessarily complicated. If you have questions about food stamps, be sure to check out our EBT guide!
Well I only get 23.00 to feed me and my 22 year old daughter and we both get SSI at this point how do the expect people to eat and they have health issues and have to keep up there strength . This is unethical and unbelievable how they do Americans. And as well as seniors that have cancer also I really don’t understand how the government can treat people this way.
You’re absolutely right—no one should be expected to survive on that. We’re so sorry you’re dealing with this, especially with health concerns. We’ll keep fighting to share every resource we can find to help.
I Think it is a shame that older seniors only get 23 dollars in snap benefits. Us older citizens are forced to go to work and not too many employers want to hire older people because of age.My husband has cancer and I chose to take care of him instead of nursing home. You cannot buy healthy food for a cancer patient with just 23 dollars.I see too many young people {who probably could work, but choose not too] get more in benefits then us seniors do.Looks like I will be having to look for work{am 72 years old], but then who is going to look after my husband, cannot leave him alone.Do the right thing and help the needy seniors.
Yes Senior citizens are all but forgotten in this economy. I am 74 on a very low fixed income, that barely covers my bills and mortgage. I get a whole $23 for food assistance. With the price of food now its almost impossible to have nutritious meals. Its no wonder most seniors are sickly a lot. Medical bills pile up, credit cards are becoming the norm and paying high interest rates. I am not going to take a loan on my house so the government can take it if I cant pay for it. It’s shameful the way we are treated. I have more to say but I need to hold my tongue, or in this case my fingers from typing.
I am 65 and disabled and as of August of last year, I have not worked at all. I applied for food stamps as well as Medicaid and apparently I m too old for disability and I am too rich for food stamps; however, I have been homeless since August. I was staying in a motel with my two grown granddaughters when my job at the time cut my hours and i was no longer able to afford to live there as well as losing my dog and my cat because I could no longer afford to keep them. Now, I am all alone looking for help with no help given. I have asked the lord to just let me keep sleeping for good because i am tired of having to deal with this anymore. It is like the State of Colorado is sending me a big, big, F**k You. I have resigned myself to realizing that I will NEVER have my own place because the state does not want to help. I have worked my butt off since the age of 15 and have held continuous employment since that time. So for the past 50 years i have NEVER HAD any type of assistance and for the first time I tried to get help and of course no one wants to help me. Its just not worth it. I guess I’ll just continue to be homeless because sometimes I spend upwards of $500 a week to sleep somewhere. I do not own a car, so can’t sleep there. I do not know what to do anymore. Thanks for listening.
Miserable in Colorado
Teresa
Hi. I know it can be hard but don’t give up hope. Sometimes it just takes a while to get things. Keep trying. Persistence is key. https://lowincomerelief.com/find-homeless-shelters-near-me/
All the info is great but doesn’t work for everyone. I’m disabled senior using a scooter, can’t carry or buy bulk. It’s a shame and discrimination to the disabled since now anything on sale is “when you buy 5”. Went the delivery route too
and they send whatever they feel like with outrageous fees, and God forbid something’s missing like it always is. So sad what disabled senior’s are going through. $23 I mean really with inflation the way it is. It’s not something enjoy even taking and yet I do because I really need it.
23.00 a month and my electric bill is 60.00 a month if you don’t use it ,can’t afford to live there electric or food
When they decided to cut our food stamps, they did not think there was still inflation so now you have to try to get what few groceries you can on $23/month during inflation. What is the matter with these people, don’t go by some chart that does not know human needs and behavior, shame on all of you who think seniors are dispensable and disposable, this is so shameful and the fact that no one cares is even worse. FIX IT!
I am on ssdi with a brain injury I am homeless I ghet 1389a month and 23 dollars in food stamps
When the government have us a big cola last year on social security, they swore it wouldn’t impact our food stamp benefits
My benefits expired this year
In May I was hacked and lost money, so I had to apply again for ebt
I am 65 and deep in debt but dss told me that doesn’t count toward my benefits/award?
The coronavirus is *still* around, part time jobs are hard to come by for disabled/elderly people, but I was fortunate to be hired on weekends…hosting at a diner.
If I report this I’m afraid they’ll just cancel my benefits altogether, and $23 isn’t much, but it’s still better than a sharp stick in the eye.
I feel like I’m being penalized because I have a Medicare benefit card, but Medicare is how I got hacked in the first place and it feels like the government is just going to ignore this debacle indefinitely, but their lack of security is what caused my situation to begin with.
It seems like their is a dearth of compassion in this country toward the elderly and if you are also disabled, the goal looks to be to be ‘put’ somewhere, to be coerced into signing over your social security and benefits to some agency that will then drug you into submission, take over all your (probably meager) assets and assist you as you just waste away u til the day comes when they can incinerate your corpse.
I worked hard my whole life, I paid a *lot* of taxes and I am mad as a wet cat.
I don’t know who will help, how to get the government to consider me as worthwhile, me and 9 million other senior citizens who are affected by this outrageous development in the way that ebt is disbursed!
If I were a criminal, I would receive so much assistance in North Carolina I could actually make a better life. I know because I’ve read the recent developments in the laws here…it’s so not what I expected from life.
*rant over*
Thank you for your time and all that you do for all of us.
Why can’t I get more than $23
Iam 62 yr old on disability 1666 a month bills a month are 1400 not much to live on would kill myself but can’t afford the bullets
@James Rusk,
James, please do not say that, God has a plan for you and it does not involve self harm.
@Jack, its just so sad
Give 23 dollars to Congress members and tell them to eat on it a month a bag of rice 2 cups a day and a 5 lb of sugar mix with water and eliminate all income.. Then judge me…73 yrs old. 23.00 a month food stamps
How the government allows 23 dollars for food ,is incredible the food is so spenced, I work all me live and now I can’t injoy me last days, not having money too eat decent, they need to do better to nc administration that allows people not to eat.
@Nilda, I go to stores that have buy one get one free sales each week and that doubles your savings.
This is unconstitutional we as seniors were given a large cost of living increase. I have type 2 diabetes and can’t have white bread! So the state needs to do better by it’s seniors. We are barely making ends meet. Especially in Calif where everything is already grossly inflated.
@Ms.Shay,
If you have 12 kids you can get tons of food stamps. If you are elderly, poor, disabled or out of work, like me, I had to fight for 18 months to get food stamps. I was excited until the paperwork showed I was approved…………….for $23 a month.