Is unpopular opinions on a tight budget [v5]

This came up at a meetup recently and the room was split, so curious what the broader community thinks. I want to write something more comprehensive about this later but starting with a quick post to gather thoughts. I want to write something more comprehensive about this later but starting with a quick post to gather thoughts.

There is a lot of conflicting advice online and most of it is from 2019. Maybe an unpopular opinion but here we go. Quick context: I am relatively new to this and trying to find my footing.