A tale as old as time — someone is brand new to a particular subset of a hobby, and has a choice:

buy the budget option and dip their toes in the shallow end of the pool

or

start with a mid or higher-tier option from the very start in the deep end.

What was your journey like in long range, and do you have any regrets / things you wish you would have done differently with the wisdom you have now?

For those that started with budget builds, are you thankful for it / did it teach you exactly what you wanted down the road when you would upgrade?