Weekly discussion: beginner mistakes after a year [v3]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, mods please remove if it is not. I want to write something more comprehensive about this later but starting with a quick post to gather thoughts. This came up at a meetup recently and the room was split, so curious what the broader community thinks.

Long-time lurker, first-time poster. For context, I am working with a pretty modest budget so high-end suggestions probably will not land. The trade-offs here are not obvious to me and I keep flip-flopping.

The trade-offs here are not obvious to me and I keep flip-flopping. Been thinking about this for a while and curious what the community thinks.