What we lose in salary...

Hardware...
Software...
UNDERwear...

should be kept clean and should be replaced every three years with something new.

As educators, what we lose in salary, we make up in educational discounts on software! (grin)

If you need to toss some outdated software, you can receive an educational discount on many popular software packages.

Here are a few sources that offer academic-discounts. I have no financial ties to any of these companies - I simply "like them" as good sources of information and products.

http://www.campustech.com/ - CampusTech currently has the best site that I've found. They have prices slightly lower than other vendors, and they have finally updated their website design to offer much more detailed product descriptions and hardware requirements.

http://www.academicsuperstore.com/ - Academic Superstore used to be my favorite site, and it is now #2 only because prices seem to be a few dollars higher than my #1 pick. This site has a long history of making fabulous efforts to provide full product descriptions and hardware requirements. The site also sells some specific hardware items too (such as digitizing tablets - for photographers and graphic artists to use a pen/stylus rather than mouse). I've personally shopped this site many times, and I have always been pleased with the transactions and speed of delivery.

http://www.studentdiscounts.com/ - This site has a very useful home page, providing current pricing for the most popular software packages used by faculty and students.

If you consult or use software in your business (in addition to teaching), make sure to carefully read the license agreements, as many times commercial use is prohibited under academically priced products (Adobe is GREAT! Currently, they allow commercial use along with academic use on their products.) Visit the software publisher sites directly for more information on any limitations of the academic licenses if this applies to you.