Macropod is certainly correct, as is the person who originally told you that this kind of work is best handled by a page-layout application. The latter allows anchoring graphics as well as text--which is always created in a text box of some kind--to a precise location on the page, independent of other factors. I'm not up on freeware applications, but there are a number of inexpensive, Word-compatible ones, such as Serif's Page Plus (www.serif.com).
The issue then becomes whether you have a need to send documents in an editable format to someone else, since any such receivers may not have the software that can read the files created. PDFs can be created, however.
Switching to a page-layout program does require some learning curve. A professional design program like Adobe's InDesign has a very steep curve; something like PagePlus is made for the inexperienced but may have remarkable features for the price, and may serve you better in the long run.

Cordially,
Ulodesk