SQL Server replication for off site copy
Based on what you have described Log shipping is going to be the way to go.  Log shipping is old school, tried and true.

Replication is pretty fragile, provides massive amounts of room for failure especially when it comes to adding new tables and getting those tables into the replication topology.

As for 2012 upgrade costs they may not be as bad as you think. If you have software assurance and an enterprise agreement that'll save you a bunch of money on licensing.