I'm sure 'desktop-based email' is the wrong term but I'm not a very technical guy unfortunately!

I am currently on a free trial subscription to .mac which runs out in a couple of days. I only use the service for email and as a student I simply cannot justify spending nearly 70 on the luxury of having an (exceptionally cool!) .mac email address.

Is there anyway whatsoever I can continue with .mac email address without the full subscription?

Or if not, could anyone recommend a free (or considerably cheaper) alternative server that will provide me with email directly into mail? I cannot bare to go back to yahoo or even gmail after having the wonderful convenience of having my mail delivered straight to my macbook.

I really hope one of you can help! thanks