i paid for photoshop elements a while back, one time payment, relatively cheap. missing some tools which i didn't know weren't included, major one being pen tool.
eventually caved in and paid for photoshop, and now have a subscription for adobe photoshop (when i thought about it, it was cheaper than my hulu subscription, which i ended up canceling due to the lack of new anime to watch)
i also signed up for Affinity Photo some time ago as it is currently in beta for windows (previously exclusive to Mac) and free to sign up for and able to download for free immediately. if it does become a paid program, it would be a single payment, and no subscription.
i got a couple other programs off steam, openCanvas and Black Ink, both of which are just a one time payment, no subscription. both of which are cheaper than photoshop elements.
another alternative that i never personally used but seen lots of people recommend for a free photoshop-like program is gimp.
if you're tired of default fonts, go and google dafont.