Hot take: budget options that nobody talks about [v2]

There is a lot of conflicting advice online and most of it is from 2019. Not sure if this is the right place to ask, mods please remove if it is not.

The trade-offs here are not obvious to me and I keep flip-flopping. Quick context: I am relatively new to this and trying to find my footing. Long-time lurker, first-time poster.

Quick context: I am relatively new to this and trying to find my footing. For context, I am working with a pretty modest budget so high-end suggestions probably will not land.