When I was in college I couldn't afford to upgrade from Win 3.11 to Win95. So I just got into Linux. Now we have a Linux based company of over 300 engineers and growing... :-)
In short. I can afford software today, but I still love linux. I use a Macbook pro with Linux.

I wouldn't recommend piracy. It is bad.

When you get out of college you would develop software and expect people to pay for it.