Need a new outlook on how to make the food stamps go further? Consider these 10 tips on how to stretch your food stamps or your grocery dollars to help you feed the family for the amount budgeted.

Receiving food stamps but not enough to make the food ends meet or last until the end of the month? Continue reading for ten tips to help stretch the food stamp allowance you receive.

Food Stamps help families make ends meet and provide food on the table for millions of people every month. Unfortunately as the economy continues to decline many are struggling to figure out how to stretch food stamps. The federal calculation is a set amount based on family size which deducts an amount equivalent to 30% of the families income. Stretching the food stamp benefits is often necessary for families on a very tight budget with no money beyond the stamps to buy additional food. Food Stamps are formally issued through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) a federal nutrition program administered by State and local agencies. The amount of food stamps a family receives depends on the family size and the amount of income the family has.

This guide provides Ten Tips on How to Stretch Food Stamps.These tips presented as steps provide ideas which may help a family put more meals on the table with the benefits provided by SNAP. Not all ideas will work with each family. However, finding one or two ways to provide low cost meals at a lower cost can help stretch the food stamps to cover a few more dinner meals.http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/contact_info/default.htm

A meal plan which includes all meals to be covered helps to make use of quantity discounts which may be available for buying in volume. Make a list of meals which can be made using items already on hand, and build the grocery list from those first. Once those meals are on the meal plan, look at the grocery list and see which items could be expanded for a better price and build meals from those. For instance, if you need chicken for one meal, buying a whole one and making a second meal will stretch your food stamps.

Pancakes, French toast, or even Eggs and Grits are lower cost meals than a meat and vegetable combination. Consider having breakfast for dinner one night each week. Buy a bag of flour and make pancakes one week, waffles the next, and biscuits and gravy the third week.

There are a number of cheap dinner meals under $5which can help reduce the amount of food stamps needed for dinners. Casseroles which are heavy in pasta or rice are less expensive than a cut of meat served alone. Consider meals under $5 like:

• Cheap Chicken Alfredo - Follow this link to instructions for making an inexpensive pasta meal which uses minimal meat making the cost lower.

• Beefaroni - Kids love beefaroni and this homemade version will help cut the cost of dinner and help make your food dollars go further/

• Taco Rice-Tacos and Rice are a good combination. Taco flavors are strong enough that not a lot of meat is required to carry the taste. Combine with a low cost rice for a starch filler and increase how far the meat will go.

• Beef and Potato Casserole- Potato type casseroles are excellent meal stretchers at a low cost. Filling the casserole with more potatoes and less beef cuts the costs but still feeds the family

• Salmon Patties - Canned meats are a good way to add proteins when cuts of meat cannot be afforded. Canned Salmon can be fried or baked into patties which can be served with low cost vegetables or made into a sandwich

• Tuna Rice Casserole - Tuna and rice are both on the lower end of cost of grocery items and work well together in this combination casserole for feeding the family on a budget.

For each of the above, the link on the title will take you to the page which explains how to make the items.

Cold cereal and milk are expensive. If children are involved the milk will still be a necessity but in place of cereal make oatmeal or muffins for breakfast. Muffins can be made ahead and frozen to just be warmed for breakfast. Homemade Instant Oatmeal packs can be made in advance and keep in sealed zipped baggies.

For families receiving WIC, meal plans should consider utilizing these items to supplement the food stamps. Using the peanut butter or cheese received with WIC vouchers, meal plans should be created to provide these items to the children in a healthy manner within the food stamp budget.

Serving meat as an item by itself may not be possible when trying to stretch food stamps. One chicken breast can serve more than one person when it is boiled and added to a dish like Chicken Fettuccine. As a single piece of meat the chicken breast would not have been enough to feed one hungry guy.

When deciding how to stretch food stamps, don’t forget to stock up on the fillers. Pasta, rice, and beans can be added to casseroles to provide more servings or in place of the required meats. Grits can be made into a casserole or served as a very filling side dish.

When cooking meat, save the drippings. Place these in a container in an area where the heat will not cause spoilage. On a night when meat is not available, use the drippings to make flavorful gravy to top grits, potatoes, biscuits, rice or bread.

Check with your local meat department representatives to find out when reduced meats hit the market. Getting a piece of marked down meat may not seen advisable but each store adds a label on the last date to sell. Use that as a guide but reduced cost meats which won’t be used same day, should be rewrapped and frozen immediately.

Waste not, want not should be the theme of food stamp stretching ideas. Nothing should go to waste. If an item is leftover and not enough to serve, add the leftovers to a big container saving items in the freezer to build a soup meal. Soup is nutritious and can be low in calories, as well as a warm meal for cold winter nights. If you've never read the story of Stone Soup, visit the How to Make Stone Soup page and consider making a pot with your friends.