Well, 'Ol Blue, one of the nice things ABOUT YOU, is you're already off your rocker!
But, I digress, so back to your question(s)......................
I didn't "start fly fishing cheap", but neither did I buy Orvis stock when I started 30-whatever years ago.
I was advised, back then and still I tell others the same thing today, that are just starting out..................... "Don't break the bank, but don't try and save a buck, just to choke on the change."
I think it's like anything, anyone starts out, "new in"...........if your beginning equipment is TOO cheap, you're going to get tired, frustrated, bored, burned out, and discouraged quite quickly. Like smoking a pipe. If you buy your first pipe, get a dime store $10.00 one, and cheap tobaky, you're going to burn your tongue, get sick to your stomach and chuck the whole mess into the trash.
Get a "good", but not "top of the line" piece of brier and decent tobac and chances are, you'll stick with it and enjoy it. If, every time, you put tension on your thread, when learning to tie flies and the vice jaws pop open, the head swivels and your 1/2 completed fly pops into your lap, 3 times out of 5, you're probably going to wonder "What were those nuts TALKING ABOUT, telling me "Fly tying is great fun"??
Had I started fly fishing with a rod that couldn't throw 20 feet of line, no matter how many casting lessons, I took, and everyone else was throwing enough to catch fish........... I perhaps, would have given up on even trying anymore. Same, with my reel. If always jammed up, caught the line, between the frame and the spool, causing me to loose fish, or ruin my first $55.00 fly line, I would have thought twice about this fly fishing game, I'm sure.
But, fortunately, I bought "Good" not "The Best" when I started out. Today, after all these years, most of my "Good" has been upgraded even further. I love the "feel" of a fine rod, when it loads and releases its energy. I feel that "a fly reel does a LOT MORE than "merely holds your fly line" and I love the feel, looks, and sounds of a high quality reel. The sounds of a Hardy, Abel or Billy Pate drag, when a large fish runs with my line, is a neat and wonderful sound, I love hearing. Compared to maybe a $25.00 reel that sounds like a pregnant typewriter in labor, when I'm only reeling up at the end of the day.
Maybe, that lady's hair color commercial says it best, when it comes to my fly fishing and fly tying gear, that I own today............ "Because I'm worth it"!??!
MY, long winded and .41 worth, anyway!
Saint Paul-"The Highly Confused"
You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson