Thanks for the plug, Mac
We really are not expensive for the time and care we put in. Our referrals page attests to that.

I wish I was farther along with the musicmasering.org project, as it would likely be a help for people in this situation. Glad to say that it is back underway, and a few mastering engineers have volunteered to contribute. (Hopefully they follow through)

For doing it on your own, there are many tools out there.
It's not about which brand of tools to use, it's about using your ears and trying a variety of different approaches.
The Classic plugin line is, for free, a very capable set. The master limiter adds a little more body than wanted sometimes, other times it works a treat.

PG Realtime FX are very capable too. There is the PGPeakLimit (brick wall limiter) and the PGDynamcs (compressor/expander combo) and the ten band EQ.

The A0 parametric EQ is a very servicable multiband parametric EQ for free also.
Try them out, and have fun with it.

As for buying something to use... I'm really starting to like the way the new Izotope Ozone works; lots of control once you start deciphering the inner workings. But of course it costs a little more than the others.
To this day I resist buying anything Sony, probably to my detriment, but I just won't send my money their way after the rootkit fiasco.

I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!