I have EQ5 that I purchased used on ebay. I was allowed to register it in my name, so the cost was minimal and it came with the extra books. I love it! I don't use it to it's capabilities but what I have figured out lets me create so many ideas. I need to see how the colors look and being able to switch colors and save them to compare is wonderful. I also like being able to resize the blocks or add borders etc to make it come out to the correct size I need without doing any math! On my lunch break I can play with it at work (so it doesn't cut into my sewing time at home) and I save the patterns to a flash drive that I carry back and forth. It's kind of like making a quilt without sewing (granted you don't have a quilt when you are done but you have a pretty picture and no fabric costs) I think you can also print out a picture to make a card if it's a gift or
put it on the label. It saves me so much time when designing my own. Good luck in your efforts to justify the purchase, I feel it was worth it. Here's one I just did today (3" blocks in 1930's material)