How to Save Money on Softeware

1. Use a free online photo editor instead of using expensive image or photo editing software.  Here are 10.  You can also use GIMP, which is the open source version of Photoshop.
2. If you’re in college, call your college’s IT department before you buy any software (anything from antivirus software to quantitative modeling software).  Universities and colleges often have special licenses and make free or reduced price academic software available to students.
3. Use open source software (software that groups of people develop and release to the public and can be used for free).  SourceForge.net and Osalt.com are great resources for open source software.
4. Use OpenOffice.org instead of Microsoft Office.  Microsoft Office is anywhere from $100 to a couple hundred dollars while OpenOffice.org is completely free.  There are some things OpenOffice.org won’t do that Microsoft Office will do and vice versa and there are plenty of online guides that discuss the differences.  Here are two: Guide 1 – Guide 2
5. Before you buy any software, see if there is a free and legal version on Download.com.
6. Use Mozilla Thunderbird (a very popular email and calendar program) instead of buying Microsoft Outlook.  It’s open source and thus free.