You only pay if you want to get better apperances or get the "premium" service. The big thing you would want to pay for is rebirthing, it basically allows you to reset your character's age and level while keeping previous learned skills. I might do this over the summer if I can somehow earn some money (maybe a job?).
To laremere bards are nice and all but remember, if you concentrate too much on life skills, you'll have trouble leveling and gaining the extra AP, which will prove annoying later on, unless you get a rebirth (good marketing eh?).
