Comments on: Monday Q&A-Photo Editing and Budgeting

By: Rhea

Rhea — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:17:01 +0000

I recommend checking out Aurora for photo editing(www.lightcrafts.com/aurora). It’s $20 and super-easy to use (virtually no learning curve).

Crystal, thanks for the tip about Phoenix. I had not heard about that yet and will look into it.

By: Battra92

Battra92 — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:14:54 +0000

I second (fourth? fifth?) the GIMP option. You can also, look for old copies of Elements on eBay to save even more.

Plus since you have a DSLR I’d say learn to best use what you have before anyone else tells you that you need to buy more. Sure a good fast lens is great if you shoot low light without flash but you don’t *need* it now.

By: tara

tara — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:59:16 +0000

For anyone interested, you can download a free trial of Photoshop Elements from Adobe, to try it before you spend the money. I highly recommend it.

By: Julia

Julia — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:42:16 +0000

A comment for Nancy—I second Kristen’s comment that it’s much better to save your money instead of buying another cute top or whatever. I definitely regret all the money I spent on clothes when I was in high school, and I wasn’t even that much of a fashion plate. (I just never felt comfortable in my own skin so I was always looking for the outfit that would make me feel better, aargh! It’s so much better and cheaper to just accept yourself, but I digress.) Fortunately, I wised up before I got too much older, and I did manage to save several thousand dollars (even while going to college and paying for tuition, books etc.) So by time I was 23 and out of college, I was able to live and travel in Europe for several months and that experience did so much for me as a human being and was also just a huge blast. So maybe you can pick a goal like that, something fun to do before you become a boring old adult, or buy a car with cash or save for a down payment. If you have something to work toward, it makes saving a lot easier. This is no surprise to any of Kristen’s readers, but it can’t be said too much, in my opinion. We want to suck you into the frugal world, before the consumer culture gets you first and ruins your life! You are in an excellent position to learn from the mistakes of millions of Americans (myself included, we bought a house that was just too much and are now in the painful process of unloading it), and to choose a better path instead. Good luck to you.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:51:19 +0000

I recently bought Photoshop Elements 7 when it was on sale on Amazon. Along with my swagbucks rewards, it cost me somewhere around $30! I just love it!

By: Jessie

Jessie — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:59:53 +0000

Just to add to the comments about GIMP – yes, it’s a great application. It has a lot of the same features as Photoshop. I use it myself, and I love it. But keep in mind that there is a very steep learning curve. You’ll be on your own to find websites and tutorials (of which there are plenty). But it’s free – so what do you have to lose?

By: Debbie

Debbie — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:00:57 +0000

One of the most enlightening step to creating a budget is to find out exactly how you spend your money, so keeping a log of every penny you spend for a while would be a good place to start.

Nancy might want to check out mint.com, a free online budgeting tool that I’ve heard good things about.

By: lauren

lauren — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 03:06:22 +0000

for photo editing software – use GIMP! It’s free and is essentially the same as Photoshop. Again, I repeat it is free. It’s open source software (google if you don’t know what that is). There are other open source software options for other cost prohibitive software – check out “Open Office” before you throw down $400 bones for Microsoft programs. I can just never believe I used to be someone who paid for software!

By: Crystal

Crystal — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:14:08 +0000

I just started reading your blog a few weeks ago and love it. I have a few suggestions for the first question. There is a freely distributed program called The Gimp (http://www.gimp.org/). There is also a browser based photo editing program called Phoenix (http://aviary.com/tools/phoenix) and aviary.com also has some other free tools. I hope that helps.

By: Natalie

Natalie — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 01:32:19 +0000

I'd recommend GIMP to anyone looking for a frugal photo editor. It's less polished than Photoshop, for obvious reasons, but worth a try. (But I'm also one of those people happy with Picasa!)