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Author Topic: Save Yo Money!  (Read 2421 times)

Offline B3Wannabe

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Save Yo Money!
« on: October 02, 2009, 12:42:48 PM »
I'm big on using free or cheap things, when I can, to save money. Here are some things that I've found that work really well.

Money Management: GnuCash - Don't buy Quicken, unless you REAAAAAALY need it. If you don't know what you need, then chances are that this will work well for you. It's really robust too. The only thing it lacks is download capability from your bank account. You can get around that by exporting from the account itself, and importing into the program. I have this installed on my laptop.

Image Manipulation: GIMP - This is a free image manipulation software. It works really well. Drawing polygons, ovals, and lines works differently in this program, but you can get used to it. Hey! It's free!

Drum Machine: Hydrogen - This is a really good program. I sequenced the drums for James Hall's What He's Done For Me, and TD Jakes He Does All Things Well, with this program. It worked great!

Music Recording/Sequencing: Audacity - You can't go wrong with this program! It's a track-based recorder. Download the beta version. I like that one better.

Office Suite: OpenOffice - Probably the BEST free office suite there is! It'll even open and manipulate MS Office 2007 documents. All the programs export to PDF, but the Presentation application will even export in Flash! Sweet.

Document/Calendar Collaboration: Google Documents - Google provides basic word-processing, slide editing, and spreadsheet software online!!! The best thing: you can share it with your friends and collaborate online! Sweet! OpenOffice also has a plugin that will let you work with your Google Documents offline!

Operating System: Ubuntu - If you're like me: tired of Windows crashing all the time, and you don't mind trying something new, download Ubuntu. You can burn it to a disk and test it without messing up your Windows install. If you know someone that only uses their computer to check email, surf the net, and maybe do some word processing, Ubuntu would be a good match. Try it! What will it hurt? Also, there is a lot of free software (games, children and learning software, etc.) available, which you can install easily using the built-in application installation software. Just browse through the library and click install!

Bible Software: Xiphos - This program works just as well as many other Bible software applications. I use this one also.

CD Burning: Infrarecorder - If you don't already have CD burning software on your computer, try this out. It works really well.

Graphing Calculator: Graphcalc - I don't use this one as much, but this is also a good program, if you're a student.

Vector Drawing: Inkscape - If you do vector drawing, this program might work for you. It has some quirks, but it might beat paying more money for Adobe Illustrator.

2D Animation: Pencil - I've never used Pencil, so you'll have to gauge its usefulness for yourself. It's basically a program that allows you to take vector or handdrawn images and convert them into animation--I think. It looks pretty good, and it works on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Clothes/Furniture: Ebay/Goodwill/Salvation Army - Yep. It may not be good for your image, but you can really find some good stuff in there, if you take the time to look. Not everything is trash. We get some of our kids clothes from second-hand stores. You can find toys, dishes and other things there too. Ebay even has bulk lots that you can purchase. I've seen Oshkosh and other name brand items sold in bulk on Ebay. It's also a good way to make some money from items you no longer need.

Lyrics/Scripture Projection: Easislides - We used this at my last church. It works really well. There is also one called Openlp. I haven't tested it before, but it may be good too.

Music Theory/Ear Training Software: GnuSolfege - This is probably the best music theory software out there. I haven't seen anything better, at least. Check it out.


Do you guys have any money-saving tips? It doesn't have to deal with computers.

Offline betnich

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #1 on: October 02, 2009, 12:45:25 PM »
Thanks....this is good, unlike some recent "Great Money-making Opportunity" spam...

I also like - www.bargainbabe.com

:)

Offline BigFoot_BigThumb

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2009, 04:21:05 PM »
Have you scanned these programs for spyware/adware/malware?
When you've done your very best, do even better.

Offline B3Wannabe

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2009, 05:36:46 PM »
All of them were good for me. You should always scan things you download anyway.

All of the programs I suggested are well known, with a pretty good following. I just recently learned about Graphcalc, so I don't know as much about it. I wouldn't worry about the rest.

Offline BigFoot_BigThumb

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2009, 05:47:38 PM »
I think I'm gonna check out that GnuSolfege.  I definitely need to refamiliarize myself with theory.  If I had only retained more of what I learned in college my compositions would be phenomenal and much more deeper than they are now.  I'm now on a mission.
When you've done your very best, do even better.

Offline B3Wannabe

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #5 on: October 02, 2009, 06:03:21 PM »
Sweet. I'm all for using free things, if they work well. I can even deal with few quirks.

Offline sjonathan02

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #6 on: October 02, 2009, 07:40:39 PM »
The hydrogen link doesn't appear to work. :-\
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Offline B3Wannabe

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #7 on: October 03, 2009, 10:49:33 AM »
The hydrogen link doesn't appear to work. :-\

Sorry. Had a "-" after the "www", instead of a "." It's fixed now.

Offline sjonathan02

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #8 on: October 03, 2009, 06:49:11 PM »
Sorry. Had a "-" after the "www", instead of a "." It's fixed now.


Ok, what link is one supposed to click for their Windows?  :-\ ?/?

All I see is this and I have no idea what it means:

http://www.hydrogen-music.org/?p=download
Despite our communication technology, no invention is as effective as the sound of the human voice.

Offline B3Wannabe

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #9 on: October 03, 2009, 10:50:08 PM »
Ok, what link is one supposed to click for their Windows?  :-\ ?/?

All I see is this and I have no idea what it means:

http://www.hydrogen-music.org/?p=download


If you go to their download page, you should see the link for the Windows version.

Offline THE WOLFMAN

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #10 on: October 03, 2009, 10:54:03 PM »
"reaper", a killer audio DAW midi sequencing app,on par with Cubase, protools, etc.

reaper.fm

Offline B3Wannabe

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #11 on: October 03, 2009, 11:14:03 PM »
"Reaper", a killer audio DAW midi sequencing app,on par with Cubase, protools, etc.

reaper.fm


That looks good! I'm going to try it out. $60 is pretty reasonable!

Offline sjonathan02

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #12 on: October 04, 2009, 07:49:02 AM »
If you go to their download page, you should see the link for the Windows version.


Thanks for the assist. It'll take me about a year to figure out what I'm doin'.  :-\ :D
Despite our communication technology, no invention is as effective as the sound of the human voice.

Offline B3Wannabe

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #13 on: October 04, 2009, 09:23:41 AM »
Thanks for the assist. It'll take me about a year to figure out what I'm doin'.  :-\ :D




Here's a simple video of someone building a track. I can upload one of mine too. Once you know how to use it, you can do anything with it.

Here are two that are more complex, using all free tools on Linux. I forgot to add Rosegarden, and Ardour. Those are free multi-track sequencers Ardour only works on Linux and OSX, though.



Offline sjonathan02

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #14 on: October 04, 2009, 10:34:28 AM »
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osFjajwH3L0

Here's a simple video of someone building a track. I can upload one of mine too. Once you know how to use it, you can do anything with it.

Here are two that are more complex, using all free tools on Linux. I forgot to add Rosegarden, and Ardour. Those are free multi-track sequencers Ardour only works on Linux and OSX, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMFSFmfTSMA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-GSKglsDkg


Ya know, I have no idea how I got to the point of even wanting to understand this stuff, but here I am.


Thanks for the vids. I'll take a look when I get home.
Despite our communication technology, no invention is as effective as the sound of the human voice.

Offline B3Organist_007

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #15 on: October 04, 2009, 02:07:20 PM »
I recently started using Linux (on an old computer) about a few months ago and I thoroughly enjoy it.  I use it more than my new Vista machine.  B3Wannabe mentioned Ubuntu, but I like Mint (which is a derivative of Ubuntu).  The KDE version is real nice.

There is also a distro called Ubuntu Studio, which is used for Audio production, graphics and video editing.
http://ubuntustudio.org/

Offline B3Organist_007

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #16 on: October 04, 2009, 02:12:50 PM »
AbiWord is also a nice Microsoft Word alternative.

Offline B3Wannabe

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #17 on: October 04, 2009, 03:27:00 PM »
I recently started using Linux (on an old computer) about a few months ago and I thoroughly enjoy it.  I use it more than my new Vista machine.  B3Wannabe mentioned Ubuntu, but I like Mint (which is a derivative of Ubuntu).  The KDE version is real nice.

There is also a distro called Ubuntu Studio, which is used for Audio production, graphics and video editing.
http://ubuntustudio.org/


Mint is good too. I've used it. I like also, but I'm growing to like the Gnome interface of Ubuntu. If I had a better computer, I'd use Kubuntu. The interface is waaaaay better than Vista and Windows 7. That's why Microsoft had to step up their game. I think they'll eventually lose, though. I think Google will probably take them out. All we need is an alternate OS that game developers will support, and it'll be over.

Offline phbrown

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #18 on: September 17, 2010, 02:28:59 PM »
Have family potluck dinners. (you could do this with friends also)

Everyone brings a dish big enough to feed how ever many people are supposed to show up. Or if you have a lot of people everyone brings enough to feed 4 -5 people.

Offline T-Block

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Re: Save Yo Money!
« Reply #19 on: September 17, 2010, 05:32:55 PM »
Do you guys have any money-saving tips? It doesn't have to deal with computers.

#1 money-saving tip:  COUPONS!!!

#2 money-saving tip:  MAIL-IN REBATES!!!
Real musicians play in every key!!!
Music Theory, da numbers work!
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