I hate--yes, literally hate--fax machines. Every time a contractor asks me to fax back a form, I bristle. But with PamFax, you can keep Luddites in the loop for about $6 per month, and receive unlimited faxes yourself, with no annoying ads. It supports Windows, Mac, Linux, and even Android. You'll want a scanner if you plan on faxing forms and such. ()

Sometimes the best way to capture all the important variables around a project is to map them out visually. For my money (which is exactly zero dollars), there's no beating XMind. This free mind mapper runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and even comes in a cross-platform portable version that you can run from a thumb drive. Once you create a mind map, you can upload it to XMind.net (either publicly or unlisted) to access it from all of your other computers. For $49 a year, you can also add security and collaboration features. ()