Coupon And Pay For Non Food Items With Food Stamps

One of the most commonly asked questions in coupon classes and forums is how do I Coupon And Pay For Non Food Items With Food Stamps.  Instinct says that you can’t do that since food stamps or SNAP benefits as they are now called, are for food products only, but there are ways to legally and easily make use of coupons and SNAP benefits to also purchase non food items with no out of pocket expense.  This is typically only possible when you are shopping at a store that offers rewards points, register rewards or catalina’s that print out or apply to your shoppers card and are eligible to be use don future purchases.  This article will give you information on how to take advantage of certain deals and be able to earn free money by paying for food products with your SNAP card and receiving rewards that can be used to purchase non food items for free.

COUPON AND PAY FOR NON FOOD ITEMS WITH FOOD STAMPS

YOU ARE NOT ACTUALLY PAYING FOR NON FOOD ITEMS WITH FOOD STAMPS.  Let’s get that out of the way.  This is in no way cheating the system or using your SNAP benefits in a way that is illegal or unethical.  So don’t worry that we are trying to teach you something sneaky or underhanded.  This is simply a way to earn rewards points while using your SNAP benefits that can be used on other purchases.

LOCATE THE BEST STORES THAT OFFER REWARDS POINTS, ECB’s, REGISTER REWARDS OR CATALINA’S. The only way you can utilize food stamps to help purchase non food items is when you are able to make food purchases that give you rewards back that can be applied toward future purchases.  This works best at stores like CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens and grocery stores or retail stores that offer Catalina’s on select purchases.  For some it is as easy as learning the policies at your local drug stores listed above.  For others it may be watching specific sales at the grocery or dollar stores to take advantage on the occasion they have food rewards that can be used on future non food purchases.

PLAN YOUR TRIP ACCORDING TO SALES AND BEST REWARDS ON FOOD PURCHASES.   This method will not work if you simply go into a store and coupon like you normally would for food and pay for your food purchases with food stamps.  You must watch sales, look at reward points and plan in advance to be able to make the most of what you are purchasing.

SAMPLE TRANSACTION:

Walgreens offers two possible rewards for your purchases.

• Balance Reward Points add up over time and can be cashed in toward future purchases.  Their weekly ad and in store sale stickers will show how many Balance Reward points and individual purchase will give you.  Although it takes some time to earn enough to cash in, over a handful of transactions your balance reward points could reach the level of $5-$10 cash toward a future purchase easily.  Not every item purchased has balance rewards attached so you must watch sales and in store ads to know what to expect on which items.
• Register Rewards are a catalina that print after you make a purchase of select sale items.  These must be used on a future purchase and cannot be used on the same item you received them on.  They also will have relatively short expiration dates (within one month) so you must watch and make sure to use them before they expire. Note: Register Rewards are applied at checkout as if they are a coupon.  Walgreens requires there to be only 1 coupon per item in a situation like this so on some occasions when already using coupons on the items you will be paying for with Register Rewards you will have to add a “filler” item such as a candy or such into the transaction to apply your Register Rewards to.

ON SALE:

1. Quaker Oatmeal Squares Cereal 2/$5 – you receive $2 Register Reward for each box purchased. Use a coupon for $0.75/1 on each box. Pay $3.50 with SNAP Benefits for 2 boxes of cereal and receive $4 Register Rewards to be used on a future purchase.
2. Butterball Turkey Bacon 2/$4 – you receive $1.50 Register Reward for each package purchased, plus 10,000 Balance Rewards for every 3 you purchase. You have a coupon for $1/1 for each package.  Pay $3 with SNAP Benefits for 3 packages of cereal and receive $4.50 in Register Rewards to be used on a future purchase.

• You currently have $8.50 in Register Rewards to be used on another transaction.
• Carefree Pantiliners are on sale for $1 a package and you have a $0.50/1 coupon for them.
• Venus Olay Razors are on sale for $7.99 each and you have a $4/1 coupon for each of them.

Your transaction total after you add in 3 small filler items for Register Rewards to apply to (preferably a $0.25 piece of candy) is somewhere under $1.  Since you have added candy as the filler items you are able to pay for that with your SNAP card and only pay out of pocket any applicable taxes your state requires.

As you can see, you have used your SNAP Benefits card to purchase food products for your family.  Due to the sale and rewards points of this store in particular, you were able to earn a reward voucher/register reward that could be used to pay for other non food items in a separate transaction.  If done carefully and with planning, you can see that it is possible to purchase health and beauty aids, household products or even baby diapers by using coupons and your SNAP benefits at select stores that offer rewards without paying actual cash out of pocket.  Although this is a bit of a complicated process you can see how you can legally and ethically coupon and pay for non food items with food stamps.

Questions? Comments? Let me know!