Hello, fellow lovers of convenient, affordable, and time-saving food storage and emergency supplies! I’m Suzie Q, and I’ll be posting my ideas, tips, and insights about building a thriving lifestyle regularly here on the Shelf Reliance blog. For my maiden post, I’d like to share my thoughts on the inspiration for my blog name—the Q. To me, this is one of the most appealing aspects of Shelf Reliance. They’re transforming the way we think about food storage by bringing the grocery store into our own homes with the Q.

Maybe some people find grocery shopping soothing. I’m sure there are people out there who really enjoy it. I, however, am not one of those people. The last thing I want to do after working all day is trek to the grocery store, try to remember all the items on the list I invariably left at home, and have to wait in line and then haul my groceries to my car and back into the house—and that’s all before I can even start to think about what I’m actually going to make for dinner! I like that the Q cuts out all these unnecessary steps—with THRIVE foods I already know I’m getting food that’s in many cases more nutritious and has fewer preservatives than store-bought food, so I don’t have to spend time puzzling over labels at the store, and it’s easy to order on my Q. And if I’m not sure what I need, instead of wandering the aisles I just use the online THRIVE Planner to find the types and amounts of food I’ll need for my specific family.

Don't you hate having to pore over products in the store for the best nutrition and pricing?

The groceries are shipped to the doorstep every month, so I can keep my Home Store stocked without having to run to the store every other day to replace whatever I’ve run out of. This way I can spend that time cooking food I’ll actually want to eat, rather than having to throw something together as quickly as possible because by this point I’m so hungry I can’t see straight, much less prepare a gourmet meal. And one of the great things about the THRIVE foods I get on the Q is that they’re already prepared—cleaned, peeled, sliced, chopped, etc.—so I can put together a nice meal fairly quickly. 

My other constant concern with food is money. Like most people, I have a certain budget to stick to. It’s easy to fit the Q into my budget because it lets me choose how much I want to invest each month. I can just reallocate part of my current grocery budget to Q items I know I’ll need every month. This means fewer trips to the grocery store, which translates into more money in my pocket because I don’t have to use as much gas and I don’t have a chance to make needless impulse buys at the store. These might sound like fairly insignificant savings, but they really add up over the months! I like this video from Chef Todd about the Q and Home Store because he hits on some other ways the convenience of the Q and having a Home Store can save you time and money that you might not think of at first.

The Q works for me because I can work grocery shopping into my schedule and budget, not the other way around. So why do you use the Q? Post a comment below to let us know!