I’m hoping to go through them over the next 24/48 hours and post the ‘winners’

I said the closing date was Friday 6th February at 12.00 noon, so this thread is now closed and I’ll not be accepting any more requests because I’m already struggling to deal with what I’ve got!

I’ll post on here, but please forgive me if I don’t go into my reasons for not choosing somebody. The fact is I know some people will be unhappy, but I guess that is the nature of doing something like this. I really didn’t expect the level of response I got. Last time I had 15 people contact me, this time it has been almost 50!

I did put my name in the hat for the free life coaching because it’s something I’ve been seriously mulling over for the past few weeks but we just don’t have the spare cash. However, I erased several posts where I declined to sign up because as much as I hate the term, I will be on the “mommy track” for the next 2-3 years and wouldn’t want to take the place of somebody prepared to go full throttle now. Not that I don’t think I wouldn’t benefit enormously from life coaching now and I think I could do a good job writing about it; more that I don’t think it would do me any harm to wait until next year when I can afford it. So, please consider me, but also keep my situation in mind if by luck it happens to be a very close choice between me and somebody else.

It did me a world of good just putting my name up for consideration – kind of an affirmation of hey, I am a person worth investing in. Even though I wouldn’t be spending anything, you would be investing your very valuable time on me. I very much look forward to following all the people you choose and getting some free life coaching by proxy.

Re: the ROI, that’s something I am working on in my own life. I grew up in the kind of house where if it was 75% off you grabbed it. Even though I laugh at my mother for doing it, it’s so engrained with me, I do find myself with ridiculous amounts of stuff to manage and wish I’d invested the money instead or saved it up to buy something that would give me lasting value and enjoyment. That has been the blessing in disguise with our current tight finances, I’ve discovered that I’ll live if I don’t go to Gymboree every time there is a sale and they’ve sent me a coupon!

Oi, I’m long winded, it’s just a very interesting subject and I could rattle on about all the stuff I don’t buy now for ages. I’m worse than a reformed smoker!

@Tim – Thanks for this post, you’ve somehow put into words stuff that I’ve had in nebulous globs in my head for a while.

I’m managing to get out of the “it’s so cheap, buy it (though it’s crap)” mindset, but this helps me get a handle on the thought process behind that and why I do it.

The ROI is a great way to look at it: I’d not thought of it like that before.

I have a rule of thumb (that I constantly forget about) that I should buy the best quality I can afford, in terms of what I need. When I’ve done this (laptop, clothing, etc) it’s definitely paid off in the long time. When I’ve gone for the cheapest option (hoover, umbrella) it’s been pretty much worse than useless. The hoover was sucky in completely the wrong sense of “suck” and the umbrella blew inside out on a regular basis, broke, and went floppy, and dripped rain down my neck.

We now have a new, REALLY GOOD hoover (and yes, it was a bit of a push to afford it – like life coaching is a bit of a push for some – but it’s saving time & frustration every week now. It also has a smiley face, which makes me childishly happy). And today I bought a new umbrella for £10 (about $14?) which looks considerably sturdier, cuter and long-lasting than the previous one.

I have rambled for longer than I meant to. Basically: don’t buy cheap crap, because it won’t do whatever it’s supposed to do, and it’ll just hassle you or clutter up your life for weeks/months to come. And then you’ll give in and spend the money you should’ve spent in the first place.

Oh, and if you can afford life coaching, and you have anything at all that kinda bugs you about your life/thoughts/habits/fears/etc — get life coaching already. The sooner you do it, the longer you’ll get the benefits for. That’s gotta be a good ROI, right? :-)

And I will talk to Kyeli about working it into our budget anyway if I don’t get the free one, because it does sound pretty darn spot-on. (:

Paces last blog post..Book Bonanza Wednesday! Chapter 4: The other half of communication

Paces last blog post..Book Bonanza Wednesday! Chapter 4: The other half of communication