<prompt> Human: Background: I am currently a US full time student working close to 25 hours a week at a minimum wage job at the college.I am a financial independant. My rent is roughly 300, Utilities come to around 50 per month, plus around 150-220 per month on groceries. My insurance recently went up from 175 to 275.I took a quiz on my state governments website to see if I was eligible for any benefits. It said I was possibly eligible for SNAP and utilities benefits.I spoke with my guardians and it seemed like they were mostly against me applying for benefits due to the stigma against government benefits. They said it was better if I earned my way and other phrases of the same nature. On the other hand they think it is great that Im getting all these grants to cover my tuition.I understand my guardians viewpoint of the stigma and only hearing of the situations where people take advantage of the system, sell their EBT, and use it irresponsibly on things that dont help their family.The side I see is the government creating these programs to get people whose life may have started off in an incredibly shitty fashion headed in the right direction.If I use this program for the next two years and become a productive working member of society, I will pay more back to the system than it provided to me.What is Personal Finances stand on this?  <response>: Youre working 25 hours a week while going to school and covering all your living expenses -- I dont think 100month of grocery money is suddenly going to make you irresponsible. Food stamps now will give you a few extra hours a week to do better in your classes, or have some time to de-stress, or itll give you a little bit of free cash you can start putting into an emergency fund. Better grades an emergency fund are things that will, long-term, help you be successful and financially stable and able to pay back into the system.Dont turn down assistance. Just dont waste it. 