[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/Article\/ID\/178\/making-your-food-stamps-stretch-to-the-end-of-the-month#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/Article\/ID\/178\/making-your-food-stamps-stretch-to-the-end-of-the-month","headline":"Making Your Food Stamps Stretch to the End of the Month","name":"Making Your Food Stamps Stretch to the End of the Month","description":"Learn how you can make your food stamps stretch to the end of the month with these easy to follow tips.","datePublished":"2018-07-06","dateModified":"2018-07-26","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/author\/admin#Person","name":"admin","url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/author\/admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26111862ca029071a00a76fae48c51b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26111862ca029071a00a76fae48c51b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"FoodStamps.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","width":100,"height":100},"url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/Article\/ID\/178\/making-your-food-stamps-stretch-to-the-end-of-the-month","about":["SNAP Survival Guide"],"wordCount":629,"keywords":["178"],"articleBody":"Food stamps are hard to make stretch to the end of the month, with the tendency to use them while they\u2019re still there and enjoy \u201cproper\u201d nutrition for at least a little bit. But recipients don\u2019t always have to binge at the beginning and suffer famine at the end, not with the following tips.Study Shows Diabetic Problems SufferEarlier this year, the\u00a0New York Times\u00a0reported that low-income people with diabetes were more likely to seek medical help at the end of the month because food budgets were tighter and they couldn\u2019t afford food that kept their blood sugar levels balanced. The study, published in\u00a0Health Affairs, showed that low-income recipients far more often sought medical help at the end of the month than any other time. And the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u00a0show that diabetes is extremely common in the United States, with 28.5 million sufferers, or 8.3% percent (18.8 million diagnosed, 7.0 million undiagnosed).Save Your FoodGrocery stores have specials all the time, but they never seem to have the specials you need and when you need them. But that\u2019s okay, because if you\u2019re smart about it, you can make the specials last for you and for a lot longer.Next time you load up on food, use the leftovers to keep making meals for the rest of the week. Anything else you don\u2019t use, toss it in a freezer\u2014either raw or prepared\u2014and save it for when prices go up next week.Prepare Foods that Don\u2019t Take a Lot of TimeGeneralizing, food stamps recipients tend to work more hours than their higher-income counterparts, and that doesn\u2019t leave a lot of time for food preparation. Meals like stews, casseroles and salads can either be prepared quickly, or put in a pressure cooker and left to cook while you\u2019re at work.Time saving also applies to the shopping trip, and one handy tip is to plan out everything you\u2019re going to buy ahead of time. Take your list to the grocery store with the amount of money just for that, and you\u2019re much more likely to both spend less time and money there. Sometimes, all the sales you need won\u2019t be at one grocery store, so try and pick a block of land that contains the stores in closer proximity to each other.And for a rarely spoken of tip in getting organic or really fresh food, such as that from a farmer\u2019s market, head there when they\u2019re just about to close. Farmers markets are increasingly accepting EBT cards, and going there at the end of the market means you may get more reduced food because they\u2019re trying to clear their inventory.Make Couponing Your FriendCoupons sometimes get a bad rap because they\u2019re perceived as something only poor people do, but here\u2019s a different way of looking at them: one characteristic of rich people is they don\u2019t spend money unnecessarily, and couponing is a way to do that.But if you\u2019re not comfortable with couponing, then you can still save a lot of money by going to ethnic food stores. Far more often than not, they have food staples, like grains and rice, available for much less than brand name stores.These are just a couple of tips for making food stamps stretch to the end of the month. What are yours?"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Article","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/\/Article\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"ID","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/\/Article\/\/ID\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"178","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/\/Article\/\/ID\/\/178\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Making Your Food Stamps Stretch to the End of the Month","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/Article\/ID\/178\/making-your-food-stamps-stretch-to-the-end-of-the-month#breadcrumbitem"}]}]