My financial hack is to use a patent agent rather than a patent attorney. They don't charge the absurd fees that lawyers charge, and their job is almost solely to write patents.
You can write your own, but a conversation I had with a patent agent about provisionals, eventually filing one, and then going through the main process led me to think provisionals are somewhat worthless (high level, you're putting your ideas out there and you might not even know their full extent and you might not cover it so you give big guys a chance to circumvent).
Upwork is so-so. My favorite and most informative and honest work experience was with reed.lerner at gmail dot com. I think he'd welcome the business.