>Hi Michelle,
>
>This is one of the things that might trip you up if you go independent. You have something that needs to be done but you don't like the tools and they won't buy the tools. You can do one of three things:
>
>1. Say I'm not going to do it. A viable answer in a very few number of cases but one which should be used sparingly.
>
>2. Use the tools you've got and get the experience. We've all done it and it makes for a good story at conventions.
>
>3. Buy the tool you want. Look at it as an investment in your future. If you can take that $500 and spread it over a couple of clients, not too bad.
>
>In your situation I'd recommend option 2. You have no real way to recoup the cost and you don't want to get in the habit of subsidizing your independent business with your spouse's income because it just becomes a crutch. You may also need your business if he's out of a job.
>
>Good luck!!

It depends on the tool. In the case of help, I've tried it the manual way. I spent a couple of hours and couldn't get even the simplest thing to work. If the choice is spending $500 to get RoboHelp and get it done in a few weeks, or spend 6 months fighting with footnotes in Word, the choice is simple.

Now if the tool were something like a form wizard, I'd use what I got. I can make forms on my own in a reasonable amount of time.

There's some experience that's just not worth the time and cost of getting, and I think manually doing help is one of those.

-Michelle