I don't think anyone can answer this question but you. "Short on pennies" doesn't tell us much about what you want to do in Carrara that you can't do now.... We certainly can't tell you to go without food or rent!

I suggest you take a look at Carrara6 Standard and see if that will suit your needs. It is much cheaper than Pro and has almost all the same abilities.

Carrara will compliment Hex. It does not entirely replace Poser. You will need to download the most recent update of D/S for compatibility.

As for Bryce, I'm not sure the value of it. Carrara does very nice landscapes and skies, and has a built-in plant/tree modeller and can distribute trees across a terrain.... C also has a pretty advanced procedural shader system so it can go from realistic to abstract.