I fall in the middle ground here so thought I would quickly voice the view from there. At first I vowed only to use freebies but I cannot resist the quality work of some of the designers. On the other hand, I know how to do enough of my own stuff that I won't buy a kit unless it has things in it that I can't do. There are lots of things that fall into that category because I lack either the time or the talent (and sometimes even both, lol). Lately, I have tried just to buy elements but they are in extremely short supply compared to kits. I rarely want to use a single kit for a layout. One of the reasons I love the downloads here is not the price (I would pay if I had to) but because I can just download the buttons or the ribbon or the charms without the rest of the stuff that I will not use. But I do treat myself--a kit costs so little relative to the labour that goes into it and relative to what else $5 can buy. I love the way some of the kits are being marketed and some of them are so wonderful I feel like I am getting little pieces of art. Sorry for the babble but it is Thursday night and the store shelves have been stocked.