>w>... Well... From what I've seen, you can't use a majority of your SSI to buy non-essential items such as video games or luxury goods, but it's not heavily enforced unless you're generating money from such things... It's meant to be bare bones to pay for bills and food.

Depends on the state, but they usually won't let you keep a savings beyond a point, usually it's between 1000 and 2000 when you get your SSI payment, but again, rarely enforced. You have to basically be reported. At the end of the year, I think you or your caregiver do need to inform what the money has been spent on... In which you could lie, and they won't care -usually-, again, you need to be reported before they investigate it... It's messy as heck.

I'm unemployed and on SSI, I cannot save more than about $1500 at the end of the month. I enjoy SSI for the medicaid that comes with it (mine is injury and psychology related...) All but $50 of mine goes into my rent and food. That $50 is usually spent on little things, like a cheap game, or usually something like a lunch at a restaurant (or emergency funds if I need to call an uber for whatever reason.)

'w'! So, it's a little less limiting, but it's... Messy... The SSI Employees don't care enough to make someone's life more miserable, so it depends on which employee you have looking over your case too...

As for food stamps... ~w~... I know very little about it... My current living situation makes too much for me to personally qualify for food stamps, but if I lived with just one other person I could probably apply. From what a friend on stamps has told me, you can eat at places that take stamps, you can spend money on food while you have stamps, but again, it's based on excess I think? I could be wrong, I could also be misinformed. I don't have first paw experience on that one... ;w;! Sorry!

I've been on SSI for 6 years and they have never asked me to tell them what the money has been spent on. Could this be a state-specific requirement?

'w'! It could be, but I've been on SSI for about 19 years myself... So I might be recalling a very old thing for caregivers? My memory isn't what it used to be either...

To be quite honest I spent the SSI on whatever I wanted. I did not know of or was told of restrictions. I’ve used to use my SSI for frivolous things, food, games, bills. I recently lost it because I make too much money to qualify anymore so that’s something to always keep in mind, especially as an independent artist, if your friend is trying to get or has SSI. You do not need to spend all of your SSI at once it’s just a monthly deposit normally given out the 3rd of each month depending. Tbh SSI as great as it is, is just that, a supplemental income. You more than likely will spend majority of your SSI before the month is up if not all of it. It’s a sliding scale of how much you get per month per yearly housing increase(hope that made sense lol) SSI isn’t as limiting as having food stamps but it is extremely hard to get. First time appliers normally get rejected and you’re able to appeal the judgement it’s just a long process. Fun fact is that SS will back pay you everything you were owed during the appeal process so that could help you as well. My 2 cents on what I gleamed from having SSI for almost 10 years.

You can't use your EBT card at restaurants, afaik. You also cannot use it to buy hot prepared food.
You can buy a premade wrapped sandwich at a convenience store with it, but not if you have them heat it up.

You don't need to spend it all every month. However, if they notice you are saving more than 25% of it (keeping it in bank account) each month, they might start asking questions.

What I mean is if you eat at restaurants with your own money. Someone is assuming that tells SNAP that you have money for food so they'll stop giving it.

That is paranoid talk. Restaurants don't do that. Nor does anywhere on tax forms. The DTA only looks at your base income and where you live to determine how much SNAP money you get on the EBT card.

You also don't need to spend all your SNAP money each month. But do be sure to use it at least once a month, as they start looking if there is no activity for a few months in a row.

Yeah no they don't care about that. All they care about on that front is that you don't go over the $2000 resource limit (which your SNAP and SSI benefits aren't counted towards)

You actually can have them heat it up for you, but only if you complete the purchase before they put it in the oven. 7/11 in particular uses this workaround to let you use your EBT card to buy hot pizzas.

That is at the store's discretion.

All I'm saying is you can get hot pizza for cheap at 7/11 on EBT and it's fairly decent :)

Foodstamps/SNAP is based solely on your need, and while it can't be used on prepared foods (either from grocery stores or restaurants), it's really helpful for groceries. You can only lose it if your income becomes too high to qualify. The amount you get is based on income (and SSI qualifies as income). While I was waiting on my SSI to be approved I had much higher SNAP benefits from the state, but that got cut by about 2/3 when I got my SSI. The amount of benefits also varies based on living situation.

SSI funds can't be spent on gambling or alcohol, but other than that you can spend it on whatever expenses you have. As for having to spend it every month... you don't have to, no, but if you ever have over $2000 in your bank, your payments pause until you're under that. The amount you get can be reduced if you have other income (like self-employment doing art commissions, for example, or working a part time job), or if you're receiving food and shelter for free. If you're married, your spouse's income is also counted as yours and reduces your SSI as if their income was yours. It gets a little messy, but once it's paid out, the recipient can spend it on whatever, though the assumption is that it goes mostly to living expenses.

Most of our SSI goes to rent, car insurance, and credit card payments, but we do usually have wiggle room for occasional meals out or, say, buying a game or even an art commission. Do also look into what state assistance programs exist. SNAP is a federal program but administered by states, and some may have additional benefits available. For example, my home state has a program that essentially offers additional SNAP benefits if they're spent at qualifying farm stands and farmer's markets on local produce, which is a nice extra benefit. Someone on SSI should also qualify for medicaid, which makes healthcare much more affordable. The state also offers a small supplementary income program for people on SSI, with some looser restrictions on income, but not all states have this. Though it should be processed automatically by the local social security office - I didn't have to apply separately for my state's supplemental income program.

I am on foodstamps and SSI

From what i know, there no limit on what you spend at restraunts. Foodstamps can only be used to buy general food items and drinks from a store.

another note i forgot to put down!


On my letters i get. Winning lots of money via lottery will mean I lose both foosstamps and SSI.

any income above a certain amount (for me its 20$) must be reported to SS, so they can take a percewntage away based on how much you gained.

You can't lose foodstamps If you eat at fancy restaurants or restaurants at all. FS Used to be able to he used for take out, booze etc a long time ago but not anymore. Only way you lose them or they go down is if you report that you started working and what your total income is. And is it SSI or SSDI? both are very very different. As junkpaw said ssi you can't buy certain luxury stuff. Ssdi which is what I have , is a bit more lenient than ssi I believe

I've been spending a portion of my SSI on Patreon and SubscribeStar for years and they've never complained about it.