This post is a little bit of personal finance (how to be a savvy consumer) and a little bit random (in other words, me just rambling on about what’s on my mind).

As of late, my love for audiobooks has continually grown larger. Here’s why:

1) I’m primarily a visual learner, so it requires a lot of focus for me to keep on pace with an audiobook. Learning to learn more efficiently through a different medium is an interesting and valuable experience.

2) It teaches you how to be a better listener. Unlike conversing with someone, if you zone out for a minute, the speaker won’t stop or repeat themselves. And rewinding an audiobook is quite annoying. It takes discipline to be fully engaged with what someone is saying 100% of the time.

3) They are lot more portable and versatile then regular books. Trying reading a book while you’re walking, jogging, driving, or folding laundry, or other “in-between” times. You can oftentimes listen through a full audiobook in less time than it would take to finish reading the exact same book.

But enough about that. Let’s get to the free stuff I promised in the title of this post.

If you wish to become a savvy consumer or just wish to understand how business is evolving, I highly recommend the book “Free” by Chris Anderson. It details the business model involved in giving away products or services for free (such as Google giving away Gmail and it’s search engine service with zero cost to you). Consumers who know how to navigate this landscape of “free” can take advantage and receive lots of services and products for essentially zero cost. Continuing with the concept of the book, the author decided to give the audiobook away for free. The link to the audiobook can be found on this page: http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/17-07/mf_freer

And for those of you who want PDFs of two of my favorite classics in personal development – “Think and Grow Rich” and “How to Win Friends and Influence People” – check out the links below:

http://extremeezine.com/enjoy-these-classic-ebooks-as-our-gift/

http://extremeezine.com/another-classic-ebook-free-for-you/

Once this hectic period of the year begins to wind down, I can begin exploring more topics in-depth, as I had been doing before March came around. These topics will be heavily focused on analyzing the role your expectations, perspectives, mindsets, and ability to live in the moment play into how much you get out of life. Stay tuned!