There are a couple of reasons:
1. Because I am passionate about food storage and being prepared.
When Matt and I got married we were blessed to receive many generous presents, including quite a bit of cash. At the time we were both students and making very little money, I think maybe $400.00 a month. With some of the cash we were able to start an emergency fund. This is money that is set aside for an emergency. Over the years we guarded this money very carefully and added to it. We also built up a sizable amount of food storage for our family. In March of 2009 we moved in to a new home. In April of 2009 our home flooded. That spring with the help of our family we cleaned it up and got our home livable again. The first week of June that same year the canal behind our house overflowed and we suffered a catastrophic flood. In just a few minutes we had feet of standing water in our yard and house. Because the water was from an “outside” water source there was no insurance coverage or compensation. This was a very difficult time for me. Our neighbors (who we didn’t even know) came to our rescue that night and our family and friends helped us demolish the basement, and then rebuild it. It was needless to say a very expensive flood. As we rebuilt our home we were able to use the emergency money that we had saved. And let me tell you how ever much money you have saved up for an emergency, it is not enough. During this time we ate a lot of the food storage we had built up over the past years. This allowed us to use some of the money we would have spent at the grocery store to rebuild our home. Our house is now mostly back together, we have painted wall and carpet on the floor, and more importantly we now understand that the horrible things can and do happen to anyone. I know our flood was only a very small personal disaster and that many people have experienced tremendous tragedy and my heart aches for them. This spring as I have been watching the destruction that seems to be happening all over our country and world I have been heart sick for the peoples whose lives will never be the same. And I hope that they are prepared.
How has it worked for us: I became a Shelf Reliance consultant because it was a great way for me to add to my food storage and emergency preparedness supplies at a great discount. For example this month I am order about $300.00 in Shelf Reliance products, all I will pay is the tax and shipping, I am defiantly building my food storage and preparedness level. Not every month is quite that high but each time I order free products I love that my family is becoming more prepared and I am being frugal about it.
2. Because I wanted a little extra income.
Over the year of so before I became a Shelf Reliant consultant I was looking for a way to earn a little extra income. I am a stay at home mom, and I love it. My sister and her husband started listening to the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University CD’s. They talked about them a lot and after they had listened to them they lent them to me. I listened to all of them and I really liked the message. Many of the principles that Dave highlights we were already living but some of his suggestions we needed to implement. After our flood we no longer had an emergency fund, and I hated it. Every month when I did the budget I hated that we did not have one. We also believe like Dave does that you should save money for upcoming purchases, we had a couple of huge things coming up (new fence, new roof, and new car) that I could not figure out how to save for. The numbers just didn’t add up. As I was thinking about all of this I knew I did not want to go back into the traditional work force and that I needed something that I could do at home while my kids were napping. I checked into a couple of home party companies but after a lot of research found that most consultants didn’t make much if any money. When I was introduced to Shelf Reliance I loved the fact that consultants were actually making money. When I was thinking about becoming a consultant I spoke to Sariah, my enroller, and told her of my concern. She said “What? Why would you spend your time doing something that only breaks even? That is ridiculous” She told me (I agree). She also told me about her experiences and what kind of money she was making every month. So with the encouragement of my husband I decided to do it.
How has it worked for us? Better than I thought it would. Each month my income from Shelf Reliance has grown with last month’s check being over $1000.00. I had a slow start but as my business builds so does my monthly income. So far with the money I have earned from Shelf Reliance we have, build a fence, gone on vacation, and built up our Emergency fund
3. I needed something that was intellectually stimulating
I love my kids, and I love being a stay at home mom. But it is not the most intellectually stimulating things. I needed something challenging.
How has it worked for us? It has defiantly met this need. I know have consultants to train, customers to help, new recipes to try, and blog posts to write.
If you are interested in finding out more about how to become a Shelf Reliance Consultant e-mail me at heather@teamshelfreliance.com
