If you have low or no income, and you're in the U.S., make sure you're receiving SNAP, the program formerly known as food stamps that lets you buy food at stores using a card that has special food-only funds on it. You can apply for SNAP here. A single person with no children and no income can receive about $200 a month, depending on your state, but people with low income can still receive some benefits. SNAP can only buy food at stores. However, many stores have rewards programs that let you earn rewards from food purchases and then spend those rewards on non-food. Additionally, there are cash back apps that let you scan your receipts to earn money. You're still purchasing only food with SNAP, exactly as the program is intended, and you're also earning and redeeming rewards exactly as the rewards programs are intended. While this post will focus on the US, the general concept can apply to food assistance programs and rewards programs in other countries.

The stores that offer cash back on food purchases include Kroger (and possibly stores in your area that are owned by Kroger but called something else), Target, CVS, Rite Aid, and Safeway (and possibly Safeway sister stores in your area that are called something else). Generally, rewards can't be used to buy things like gift cards, stamps, bus tickets, lottery tickets, alcohol, tobacco, prescriptions, money services, or to pay for sales tax. But you can spend it on essentials like toiletries, baby products, cleaning supplies, pet food, and more. Here's a quick look at how each store's rewards work, and more about cash back apps. For additional ways to save, search the web for "How to save at [store name]." I don't think Walmart or Walgreens offer rewards on food, but let me know if I missed anything, and bookmark this post and add comments if you have any problems, find any other stores where this works, or figure out a pro tip that I haven't mentioned. I'll update the post.

EDIT: There's a version of this post that shows the rewards with images at r/homeless. Images aren't allowed here.

KROGER (AND OTHER STORES)

Kroger owns many regional grocery chains, so if there isn't a Kroger in your area, check this map (PDF) to see what stores they may own near you. Kroger offers cash rewards on certain products each week. To see those rewards, go to your local Kroger-owned store's website and click the menu at the top, then scroll toward the bottom of the menu and click "Savings," then click "Cash Back" for a page like this one for Kroger. On the left, check your shopping method (like "In-Store"), then for food, check all the food categories (this is tedious: Bakery, Baking Goods, Beverages, Breakfast, Candy, Canned & Packaged, Condiment & Sauces, Dairy, Deli, Frozen, Meat & Seafood, Natural & Organic, Pasta Sauces Grain, Produce, and Snacks.) To get the cash back, you have to log in and click "Get Cash Back" for each item you're interested in, then go buy it. When you click on that item, it will tell you how many times you can get cash back on it, such as 5 times. When you buy it, the cash will be added to your account, so make sure you're using your rewards account when you make the purchase. Once you've earned the cash rewards and want to use them, log in to your account and apply the rewards to your next purchase. Or, if you eventually earn $20 or more, you can cash it out to PayPal for actual cash. Buy your non-food separately from your food in order to apply your cash rewards to only your non-food. Coupons can't be combined with cash back items. For more tips, including how to save on gas, search the web for "How to save at Kroger."

TARGET

Target offers gift cards for purchasing certain products, but usually they're pretty stingy about gift cards for food. This week is a big exception. To see Target's gift card offers on food, go to Target's website, click "Categories" at the top, next click "Groceries" in the menu, then scroll down the menu and click "Grocery Deals" to land here. Scroll down to where you see a red $5 gift card logo and the red words "Free $5 gift card" to view hundreds of foods that qualify for a $5 gift card when you buy $20. There's a limit of one gift card per transaction, but no limit on the number of transactions for this particular offer, according to a customer service rep. I don't know if that's always the case. [EDIT: Target also has their Target Circle program, where you get 1% cash back onto your account on all purchases, and then you can spend that cash on anything in the store.] For more ways to save, search the web for "How to save at Target."

CVS

CVS is another chain that's usually stingy about rewards on food purchases, but this week they're offering a $10 gift card when you buy $30 of General Mills cereal, like Cheerios, Chex, Lucky Charms, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. However, at $1.99 each, that's 16 boxes, so you'll have to figure out in advance how you're going to carry it all. No other foods are in the promotion this week. There's a limit of one reward per household, so don't buy multiples of 16 boxes of cereal, you'll deplete the store and won't get any extra gift cards. For more ways to save, search the web for "How to save at CVS."

RITE AID

Rite Aid isn't in many states anymore after half of it was purchased by Walgreens, but they offer a good number of rewards on food each week. Go to Rite Aid's website, click the menu at the top, and scroll down the menu to click "Grocery" under Departments. Then scroll way down on the left of the page until you see "Deal Type," then check the box for "BonusCash" to see over 100 items with offers this week. Rewards tend to be along the lines of "$1 when you buy $5," "$2-3 when you buy $10," "$5 when you buy $15," or "$8 when you buy $20." In my experience, even if your store doesn't show the BonusCash tag on an item and/or the item is a different price than online, you still get the BonusCash. There's usually a limit of two rewards per category of item (like cereal) per promotion, and you can mix and match items within the same category to get the offer. It will say toward the bottom of your receipt when you've hit the limit for an item. Your BonusCash becomes available to use at 6 AM the next morning. You get to decide each time at checkout whether you want to apply your BonusCash to your purchase. Buy your non-food separately from your food to apply the BonusCash to only your non-food. For more ways to save, search the web for "How to save at Rite Aid."

SAFEWAY (AND OTHER STORES)

Safeway has many sister chains in different regions, so if there isn't a Safeway in your area, check this map.pdf) (PDF) to see what stores may be near you. While Safeway doesn't offer special cash rewards on specific food items, it has a general rewards program covering all purchases, and there are ways to make it worth more than the basic 1% rate. First, for every $1 you spend, you earn 1 point. This is calculated in whole dollars rounded down, so spending $4.96 will earn 4 points, but if you really want to get up to the next dollar, you can add a cheap item like a single jalapeño pepper, carrot, banana, ramen packet, or yogurt cup. 100 points = 1 reward, and 1 reward = $1 off. But 3 rewards = $4 off, 5 rewards = $7 off, and 7 rewards = $10 off. In addition, there are periodic special offers in the app, like 3X points on select products this month, or a personalized offer like 3 rewards (300 points) when you spend $60 (which totals 360 points, and remember 300 points = 3 rewards = $4 off). You can even combine offers, so with these two offers, if you buy $60 in 3X items, you get 180 300 = 480 points, which is nearly the 500 points that can be redeemed for $7 off. Always tap the "Add" button on an offer before you shop to make sure you get the offer. You have until the end of the next month after you've earned your reward to actually apply it to your next purchase, and your purchase has to be big enough to use the full amount or it won't apply and will be saved until whenever you make a big enough purchase. (But I've purchased a $9.99 item with a $10 reward and it applied and I was given a penny back, so there's a little wiggle room.) After you've clipped a reward, you have until the end of the next month to use it. So if you earn a reward in February, you'll have until the end of March to apply it, and until the end of April to use it. But if you have extra points left over at the end of the month that haven't earned a reward, you lose those points. Discounts will always be applied to food first, no matter what order a purchase is rung up in, so you can't buy $40 of food and $10 of non-food in a single purchase and get the $10 taken off the non-food. This rule also applies if you receive an offer for $5 off $20 or $10 off $50. For more tips, including how to save on gas, search the web for "How to save at Safeway."

CASH BACK APPS

Cash back apps generally work by showing you cash back offers on certain products, then you scan your receipt or link the cash back app to your store rewards account and you get paid in cash or gift cards. Some apps give you cash just for joining. There are way too many apps for me to review, but this is the most exhaustive list I've found. You can use multiple cash back apps together for maximum cash.

Again, let me know if I've missed anything, and bookmark this post and add comments if you have any problems, find any other stores where this works, or figure out a pro tip that I haven't mentioned. I'll update the post.