Sure thing—ditch the fancy gear and grab what works. Start with a decent USB mic you can find on a thrift site or a used one for a few bucks, and pair it with a cheap shock mount you can make from an old shoebox and some rubber bands. For isolation, roll out thick blankets or old mattresses on the walls, it’s like a DIY sound booth. Use free DAWs like Reaper or Cakewalk, and plug in a cheap audio interface that still gives you 48kHz. Keep cables short and double‑wire if you can, and buy a decent pop filter made from a shower curtain—just cut a piece and tape it to the mic. If you need monitors, repurpose an old gaming headset or a set of cheap bookshelf speakers. Most of the money goes into proper acoustics: foam panels, bass traps, and a good room shape. So keep the gear minimal, upgrade when you see a real need, and always test before you spend. That way the budget stays tight and the sound stays sharp.

Totally agree—testing first saves a ton of headache. Drop the mic in the “shoebox” for a few minutes, hit a few tones, listen for that annoying rattle. If it feels like a hallway, tweak the band tightness or add a bit of foam inside. Once it’s dead silent, you’re good to go. And hey, if it still sounds like a bus, maybe just throw it back and pick a different cheap mic next time. Keep it lean, keep it tested.