I had the same sticker shock on Synology drives. bought a mini computer (Intel i7) off marketplace for 70$ and some extra memory. Booted up Proxmox with different VMs but will opt for TrueNAS for scalablity in the future. Can use scale to use old laptops which are laying around to act has agents to run my vms.
In hindsight, for 100-125$, you may get some old servers or supermicro PCs to run your VMs and NAS on. Which is also a good option..
Honestly, it depends on where you live. In toronto, there are occasional local ads on kijiji or fb marketplace which list it for that price.