How to get Quicken 2005 for free

I've been using Quicken since the mid-90's, most likely about 12 years. Every year they send me an offer to save 10% off on the next year's edition. If I ignore it long enough they actually call me (yes, call me) to remind me that through this exclusive offer for people that have the current version, I can save a whole 10%. I tell them that I've found a way to save 50%. "How do you do that?" they ask. "I only upgrade every other year." *click*

However, I've been using Quicken 2002 on my Windows PC since 2001 since I'm not going to spend money until I can buy it for the Mac and get a full-featured release, something that hasn't happened yet. At that point I'm going to start fresh with a new database. After 12 years I've accumulated too many useless categories and other cruft. (I also can't do this until Alimony is done, since I want all payments to L to be in one database.)

I do, however, pay $9.99/month for their Quicken Bill Pay service, which used to be called Checkfree. I know it's $120/year that some banks do for free, but I don't want to switch until I start fresh on the Mac (and until Alimony is done, since she complains to ME mightily when she loses the checks, imagine her complaint if I screwed up payment).

Last week I got a free copy of Quicken 2005 in the mail. It seems that Quicken Bill Pay will soon no longer work with Q2002 and they decided its easier to send free copies to people that are paying the outragous $120/year than to badger them about upgrading.

So, for only $120/year, it turns out every 3-4 years you can get a free copy of Quicken. Now that's financial advice you won't find anywhere else. w00t.