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If I can do it, so can you, and here's some links to free production goodies below:
-KRV Audio - Download links and reviews to freeware music software: www.kvraudio.com
-Open Office - Open Source Microsoft-Office-esque suite: http://www.openoffice.org/
-Lightworks - Open source non-linear video editing program: http://www.lightworksbeta.com/
-Celtx - Free scriptwriting software: www.celtx.com
-Gimp - Open Source image editing: www.gimp.org
-Audacity - Open Source audio editing: audacity.sourceforge.net
-Camstudio - Open Source video capturing: http://camstudio.org/
-Andysnap - Donationware image capturing: http://www.bigbeanbag.net/andysnap/
-Blender - Open Source 3d modeling: www.blender.org
-Musescore - Freeware Music Notation Software: http://musescore.org/en

The open source world is a big place, so if there's something you want, you're sure to find more than what I just listed here. It's all free, legal, and most importantly, it's available to *everyone*, so everyone you know can use it, too.

I swear, if I ever become rich, I'm starting a foundation to advocate free software for hobbyists, students, and perhaps small businesses. The effects would be quite beneficial:
1. Less software piracy since there's no need to steal software (and if the freeware/open source software sucks, then the foundation could fund updates to make it better).
2. Increased productivity among everyone: musicians without equipment could make music, writers could finally write, artists could make digital art. People will no longer be limited by their wallets, but their imaginations (less so than we are right now with the abundance of free stuff out there).
3. Increased interest in these fields due to greater accessibility. If you wanted to learn a specific field (game design, art, writing, whatever), you'd no longer need to shell out money or have to take classes as your only option. While classes help, there'd be an increase in the self-taught.
4. Exponentially increased collaboration. So many people use so many different types of software that we have trouble with compatible file types and prices. With free software, everyone can use the same thing, share the same methods, and pass files back and forth without worrying about compatibility.

But what about commercial software? Well, commercial software exists and costs as much as it does for a reason: it's good. I prefer Photoshop's easy-to-use interface and layer styles over Gimp's strange system, but Gimp is free. Blender isn't as easy as zBrush or Maya, but it's free. The thing is that we're mostly goofing around with these things, learning the creative process so we'll be ready when we actually apply what we learn to the real world (or at least apply the critical thinking skills we learned, or pass this stuff down to our kids).