Can You Slash Your Grocery Bill by Applying for WIC?

Okay, I understand this isn't the traditional money saving way to cut your grocery expenses but before you disregard it let me tell you how this can save you loads of cash each month. For starters let me say that the income limits are not the scanty type limits offered by your counties welfare department. As a a matter of fact, a family of four (husband, wife and two kids or any other combination) can have a gross monthly income of $39,200 (as of current, subject to change). Now, I realize that's not a huge amount of money, but welfare will usually deny you benefits if you make over $6,500 years, so there is a much more broad spectrum of people who can qualify for the WIC program. The problem is, those who qualify for welfare are the ones who are most likely to apply for the program. But there are so many more people who write WIC off as a "we won't qualify so why bother" type program. I agree it is frustrating when you can't pay the bills on the salary you have now, but are told by almost every agency that you make to much money to qualify for assistance. So I wanted to shed the light on the WIC program. And it's more than just formula and milk too!

Let's first discuss what exactly is the WIC program, and who can apply. The WIC program is for residents of the United States. It also covers the 34 Indian Tribal Organizations, America Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam, Commonwealth Islands of the Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. It is a government funded program targeting nutrition assistance for lower income families with young children. You can also qualify if you don't have children, but are pregnant. The program is offered to pregnant woman, nursing mothers (for the first year of your babies life), infants, toddlers and children who are younger than five. Because WIC seems to target woman and children, many families have the misconception that it will not be worth it, especially if your house hold is a single father raising young children. This is not the case, the family can still greatly benefit from the allowances given to the children. As a matter of fact, even if you are on the higher end of the range for income qualification, you will still receive the same amount of food checks that a family who is on welfare would receive.

So what do I get with the WIC program? Many people think WIC only helps with baby formula, milk and juice. Perhaps that was how WIC was years ago, but there are a lot of foods that you can get for free. Food list vary by situation. For example if you breast feed your infant, you will qualify for extras that no other WIC recipient qualifies for. That is carrots and tuna, plus you'll get extra amounts of other WIC foods, such as milk and cheese. Basically the WIC program entitles you to 100% Juice, Milk (of any fat content), cheese, hot or cold cereals, dry beans, eggs, baby cereal, formula, infant juices, peanut butter and if your nursing, carrots and tuna. Plus, in early summer your family will receive checks to purchase produce at local fruit stands!

The amounts of the products listed above will be determined by the family members who receive benefits. For example an infant will not qualify for milk until they are over a year old, but if you have another toddler in the house, you will get milk checks for them. The same goes with a pregnant woman, you get checks for milk, cheese juice, eggs peanut butter but you won't get formula until your baby is born, or the added carrots and tuna until you are nursing your new born child.

Now if I told you that there would be coupons in this weeks paper that expire in 30 days for 8 free gallons of milk, 3 free dozen eggs, 5 pounds of cheese, 3 free boxes of cereal, 12 free bottles of juice 2 free jars of peanut butter, and so on, your eyes would be peeled waiting for the local paper to arrive. You would surly clip the coupons and use them at your local grocery store right? I mean who wouldn't! It would obviously save you tons of money at the grocery store and allow you to keep more of your hard earned cash, right! I mean after all we clip coupons that save us .20 cents off of something and these products would be ENTIRELY free!

Oh, and I didn't mention that not only do you get to pick the foods out yourself from the grocery store, but you are allowed almost any brand (as long as it's not organic) of many of the foods listed. As far as the cereal goes, you can't get lucky charms, but you'll enjoy a selection of everything from Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats to General Mills Cheerios, even Post Banana Nut Crunch and Honey Bunches of Oats! You can also enjoy cheese buy the chuck, or sliced and store packaged from the deli. You are not allowed to get "Deli Service" but if your grocery store puts out sliced cheeses from the deli you can purchase them too!

Well, those coupons exist in the WIC program. I strongly encourage you to visit the WIC website to learn more about the program, especially if your like me, a nursing mother of three - all under the age of 5! Actually, my oldest just turned 5 and he is now off the program, but I still get enough milk throughout the month that I only end up buying 1 or 2 gallons a month...and we are ALL BIG milk drinkers. The WIC program saves me about $150.00 a month in food! With groceries going up, I urge you to think outside the box and do all that you can to slash that grocery bill!

One thing I want to add is there is talk of some changes that WIC will make in the coming years. They would like to include whole wheat bread, fruits and veggies and other healthy foods on their list. However one thing that would change is they would like to limit the number of high fat foods (like whole milk) and would encourage lower percentages to help with the obesity rate. I am all for whole milk, so this would be a pitfall in my book, but the changes have not been made yet, nor has there been too much talk about it, so the only reason I am even writing about it is to inform those who read this article long after it's publish date.

So, your next step is to determine your eligibility in the program and apply! You can look at the income guidelines at this link And visit the WIC website at this link to learn more. You can also call WIC at their toll free number 1-800-WIC-WINS to be transfered to your closest WIC office location in your area. When applying, you will needs current address information, income information, birth certificates, SS cards and shot records for the children. Be sure to ask your local office if there is anything else you need to bring because states may vary in the application process.