Hi, I'm playing a Breton and I'm very cheap.

Is there any way to get Magical Spell Books for free?
Do they teach/give out free Spells at Winterhold or anywhereelse?

My objective is really just to get Fire Bolt, Fireball, Healing Hands, Close Wounds, & maybe Grand Healing, that's it. Not asking for anything more than that.
I don't like spending Coins on something I can get for free from random drops, but so far it seems pretty hard for these Magical Spell Books to drop.. (I'm 20 hours into the game now and just finished The Way of The Voice)

Thank you

Alot of spell tomes are pre placed. For instance you can get Clarvoyance from Embershard, Transmute ore from Halted Stream Camp etc. In High Gate Ruins you can get a pretty awesome spell as a quest reward

You can indeed get free spells at the college, at certain points, but they aren't spellbooks, they are directly added to you during dialogue. Before entrance to the college, you are given a test to see if you are worthy to proceed. The "gatekeeper" chooses an apprentice spell at random from one of the various schools and asks you if you can cast it. If you don't already have the spell she will teach it to you for 30 gold, although I'm pretty sure that if you have less than 30 gold, she'll teach it to you anyway, as that has happened to me once (I think). Anyway, one of the spells she can teach you is the firebolt you're looking for. Also, after entrance to the college, you can get one of the masters to teach you the Lesser Ward spell for free... in fact, you pretty much have to learn it if you don't already know it, because the only way to keep the questline going in the college is to cast the ward spell.

-Loth

Edit: I forgot to mention that you should save right before talking to the college gatekeeper, assuming you are trying to get the firebolt for free. If she asks you to try a different spell than firebolt, just reload your game until she does.

Thank you, Kairon.

Thank you, Lothario.
Does any of the free Spells given at Winterhold include Fire Bolt, Fireball, Healing Hands, or Close Wounds?

Fort Amol is full of necromancers, in the second floor of the main building there are two on a table, dont remember which ones though

Yes, you can get either Firebolt or Healing Hands at the gatekeeper encounter when she asks you to prove yourself. Like I said before, save your game right before you go up the steps to the college, because it's randomly generated, and you might get unlucky and have to cast a Fear spell or Summon Atronach instead.

-Loth

I got my flame atronach this way from her for 30 gold. That's money considering how much the spell tome costs

Not sure if I've ever seen Fireball and Close Wounds anywhere excluding late game.

These links show the known methods of acquiring or locations of found tomes as static world loot.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Destruction_Spells

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Restoration_Spells

Are you certain there were 2?
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Fort_Amol only mentions Bound Bow. But I'll definitely check it out. Thank you, Sentenza73.



Does that mean I'll have to find a place to drop my Gold so I can go there with an empty pocket and get free Spell?
Is there a place where I can drop my Gold and not lose them?



Thank you, kaluzar. They seem to mainly say where to Buy as oppose to Find though

Ahahaha... you weren't lying... you really ARE cheap! It's only 30 dang gold, man!

Maybe hit up a barrel or something near the steps to stash your gold for a minute? Keep in mind that this happened in my game before the last couple of patches, so maybe they fixed the bug. YOU MIGHT HAVE TO PAY THE FULL 30 GOLD!

-Loth

PS Good luck, I hope the bug still works for you!

One thing I would say is that you shouldn't worry about spending a lot of gold. There is TONS of the stuff, and characters - especially non-magic users - have difficulty spending it. You'll be glad of the money sink once you hit the higher levels. My Khajiit Thief has 135,000 gold at level 53, and I haven't been aiming to save or hoard it at all. The opportunities to spend just haven't been there. Being a mage means you've got a legitimate use for money in the purchase of enchanted apparel, soul gems, and spell tomes - so take the opportunity.

Alright, I cleared Fort Amol and 2 Spell Books that were there were: Stoneflesh, & Bound Bow. Will try Winterhold this weekend.
Thank you for all your input so far

Awwww, I just approached her twice with 0 & 1 Coin in my pocket and she told me to go "learn it from other Mage"! Noooooooooooooooooooooo
I gave it 2 tries: one with 0 Coin & another with 1 and the results were the same.

Maybe I have to Discover Winterhold with 0 Coin in my pocket?
Which Patch was it that you were on? Was it no Patch or Release-day Patch?

I discovered Winterhold as a bummer this time.
I dropped all my items at Dragonsreach, stashed all my Coins in a Drawer, got on my Horse and rode to Winterhold. And Faralda still told me to go "find other court wizards"

If Winterhold's Gatekeeper is this cheap, I might as well not attend their College. Gave her a full mouth of Fus-Ro-Dah I did. Screw College!