Always surprises me when people start saying things like "there aren't many free things anymore." Not that Robert said that directly, but hinted toward a lack of FREE stuff in the DNN community at large.
Maybe you're not looking in the right places, or don't know the right people, but in my DNN world there is a ton of free stuff.
First, all the stuff that comes with DNN out of the box. CE and all is FREE to the end user. AMAZING! Blog, Forums, HTML, Repository, the framework itself, FAQ, wiki, contacts, Links, Feedback, Newsfeed, form and List, Survey, Iframe, Gallery, Events... PHEW, and all free.
Some of the best free modules out there:
Anything by Mitchel Sellers (Iowa Computer Gurus)
iFority (spelling?) contacts, etc.
Smart Thinker social stuff
Mark Allen's menu at dnndoneright
Stuff by Oliver Hine
Stuff by Brandon Haynes
Stuff by Coding Staff
Stuff by Will Strohl
And stuff by probably dozens of others that I'm leaving off.
So, I know you weren't "complaining," but even a hint of someone saying there isn't enough free stuff out there just gets my juices boiling. There are literally hundreds of free modules out there these days, you just have to make an effort to find them.