I definitely understand budget constraints. I was privileged enough to get a decent paying job in the past couple of years and bought a used 2019 Chevy Bolt since it's one of the cheaper EVs with a decently long-range battery. It's ugly (the newer ones less so, but Chevy is discontinuing it in favor of the Equinox) but it pairs well with having a regular hybrid, my wife's car, or something else where you won't have to worry about stopping for long-ish periods of time on big road trips. You generally have to pay more for registering your vehicle since the state doesn't get any gas tax off of it, but you make that up quickly in saving on actual gasoline, especially now that I'm in the PNW where gas is like a dollar or more than TX and the South East.
The used models really aren't that expensive now either, but it does cost some to add a dedicated circuit and charging unit in your home if you want that even with rebates. I've done that twice now though since I moved from Georgia (where I bought the car) to Oregon.