I pay for music, movies and software — even though I know how to download all of them for free. Sometimes it bothers me that I could be getting all of this stuff for free, I admit, and I know plenty of people who are more than content to download whatever they want. But I’ve come to the conclusion that paying for intellectual property makes good financial sense.

I work with Photoshop a lot. Back in college, I may have used a version of a less-than-legal nature, but I’ve found that legitimate software has paid off. For one thing, I haven’t had to spend any time getting a cracked copy to work. And if something does go horribly wrong with my software, I can call up tech support and get someone trained to handle this type of issue to sort out for me. There are updates, patches and more, as well.

There is a major drawback to buying music online, of course: DRM. Because of the way that most companies run their digital rights management systems, they have to update them every few years. Once a new type of DRM is being used, most companies stop supporting the old one — making songs sold with that particular DRM effectively useless. The situation is getting better, though. Last year, Apple switched to selling music free of DRM, as has Wal-Mart and many other venues. If you can manage to avoid buying DRM-free music (and you remember to back them up), you won’t have to re-purchase your music. The price remains comparable to buying CDs, as long as I want every track on an album, but it’s still an amount I feel comfortable paying.

When it comes to movies, I’ll admit my tastes have certainly dictated where I get my entertainment. Back in the days when I was willing to search through torrents for a particular movie or show, I could only rarely find the films I really wanted to watch. When I did, it was usually impossible for me to get the full file for some reason or another. I turned to Netflix in order to actually watch the movies that I wanted to see, instead of banging my head against the Bit Torrent wall. Netflix has only gotten better these days: now that I can watch movies immediately on my computer, I get a lot of the benefits of downloading movies, without having them take up half my hard drive.

And I do download plenty of stuff for free still — I just do it legally. There are thousands of musicians who release their tunes for free online, and the same goes for software and movies. I often look for Creative Commons-licensed media when I want something new. Even better, I often find stuff that really is new to me this way.

What do you think? I won’t ask you to incriminate yourself on whether or not you download music illegally, but do you think that it makes sense financially to take one approach over the other? Do you think that there’s anything wrong with downloading intellectual property of any kind? I’ve virtually ignored the possibility of legal fees here, I’ll admit, but I don’t really think they play in to the decision to download — do you?

Popularity: 14% [?]

There are plenty of tactics that financial experts recommend for getting your spending under control, such as tracking your spending. Personally, I’ve found tracking my spending very useful for small purchases, but less so for larger ones. With big purchases, I know where my money went and I know how I justified it. I often have an easier time justifying a large purchase to myself than a small one.

One technique that I’ve found works better for getting big spending under control is setting a buying period. I only allow myself to make purchases over a certain level two or three days a month. This is not an absolutely ironclad rule, of course. Expensive emergencies pop up occasionally. But I’ve found that if I’m fairly strict with myself about waiting to make a big purchase, I often wind up not making the purchase at all.

Purchasing impulsively: I often flat out forget that I ‘had’ to have that shiny new toy just a few minutes after I walk out of the store. Most stores are designed as sales machines — they’re set up to make you want stuff you may not even know exists. But if you make yourself wait before making a purchase, you may avoid making the purchase entirely.

Making do: If I have to wait to buy something, I often find a way to get the same affect for cheap. For instance, if I want to buy a bookshelf but I’m insistent on waiting until the end of the month, I might see what scrap wood and supports I can get my hands on. It’s very possible that I’ll come up with that bookshelf without paying a single cent.

Hitting the sales: Certain big purchases tend to go on sale almost every month for a holiday. This weekend, for instance, tons of stuff will be available for cheap just for the 4th of July. Making yourself wait a couple of weeks to make a purchase actually makes it easier to hit sales and collect coupons that can bring the overall price way down.

Going for availability: I’ve had the unfortunate experience of buying a new piece of computer equipment only to find out that I missed a price drop or an upgrade by only a few days. Adding in a self-imposed waiting period can provide you with the time to do a little research on your planned purchase and make sure you get the newest, cheapest version of whatever you’re after.

Putting off a purchase tends to work well for buying furniture, computer equipment and other durable goods. I try to stick to $100 as my limit, although I’ve been known to go much lower to help limit my purchases of DVDs, books and other small items. The actual dollar limit can be adjusted to whatever works with your lifestyle and your area. I know people who routinely spend $100 on groceries — that limit probably wouldn’t work so well for them.

Popularity: 47% [?]

When I was in college, I watched a friend of mine buy a copy of a movie I knew for a fact he had just a copy of last week. When I mentioned the fact, his response just about floored me. He had bought another copy, he told me, but that one had a big scratch across the DVD. He had thrown it out, but still wanted a copy of it. He didn’t try to take it back or exchange it. He just paid for the same movie twice — and trust me, the movie was barely worth buying in the first place.

I’ve seen plenty of people doing the same thing — deciding that putting up a bit of a fuss isn’t worth the effort. A surprising number of people seem to feel that it’s better to pay to fix a problem themselves rather than asking a seller to take responsibility, whether it’s a leaking roof on the house they just bought or a hole in a sweater from the local retailer. “It’s too much effort…it’ll take too much time…it’s out of my way.” These excuses don’t justify giving up on getting equal value for your money, though, even if you decide to never shop at the store selling faulty products again.

These excuses just don’t hold water. If you have a legitimate complaint, practically every store will do what is necessary to correct the matter. Companies don’t want to lose you as a customer — and they certainly don’t want you going around telling other consumers that they sell shoddy merchandise. Furthermore, if they do something wrong and don’t fix it, you do have some legal recourse. The same holds true for less official sellers — if you buy a house, for instance, and something goes wrong that was not disclosed when you bought it, many sellers will try to accommodate you. If they don’t you do have some legal recourse.

I know that the words ‘legal recourse’ made dollar signs appear in your head and you’re headed back to “It’s not worth the effort.” Hear me out, though. I’m not talking about hiring some fancy-pants lawyer to sue the seller in question. While there are some situations, when large sums of money are involved, that the effort and expense is worthwhile, in most cases we’re talking about sums of money that even a small claims court judge would laugh at. But there are a whole list of consumer advocacy organizations that you can file a complaint with, from the local Better Business Bureau to the Federal Trade Commission. In most cases, you can file that complaint with a ten minute phone call. ConsumerAction.gov offers in-depth information on the topic.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease, after all. Just mentioning a problem can be enough to ensure that you get your money’s worth. Speak up, rather than throwing your money away on the same product twice.

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Popularity: 17% [?]

Hunting for a house — the right house — can be beyond stressful. You may have a whole list of criteria, from schools for your children to commuting options to get to work. And if you don’t get it right, you can be stuck. Once you’ve bought a house and moved in, you’ll be looking at a painful financial situation if you want to move right out again.

While you are looking at houses, you need to focus on the pros and cons of each individual property, rather than focusing on more general issues. To remove some of the worry of house hunting — and save money in the long run — complete these four steps before you even look at a single ‘for sale’ sign.

1. Get preapproved. Preapproval for a mortgage means that you know exactly the amount of money you can spend on your new home. You won’t waste time  and effort on homes out of your price range if you know just what sort of mortgage you can get. Furthermore, many people don’t know their credit score off the top of their heads, let alone the amount a lender will give them for a mortgage. That includes me, by the way. Rather than guessing, you should know.
2. Make a wish list. Before you start looking, it’s worthwhile to make a list of exactly what you’re looking for. Dream big: list all the qualities you want in a home, and then prioritize. You might also want to note which items on your list are things you can change in a house that meets most of your other needs. I, for instance, have a preference for energy efficient homes — but I can make the average house more energy efficient with a little time and money.
3. Know the market. There is an amazing amount of real estate information online for every zip code in the country. Do some research: recent sales prices, neighborhood statistics, market trends — even where the local landmarks are in relationship to your preferred area. Even if — especially if — you are unfamiliar with the area in which you’re looking for a home, you should research your potential neighborhood thoroughly. You might even go to the effort of contacting people living in the area to get their impressions of specific locations.
4. Discuss your expectations with your agent. If you are working with an agent to find your new home, you should do your best to tell your agent exactly what you are looking for in a home. Agents want the process to move as smoothly as you do, and if they know your spending limit and what you are looking for in a home, they’ll avoid showing you houses that don’t meet your needs. Both you and your agent can save time with a little communication.

Popularity: 15% [?]