You can pick up an HP MicroServer for around $400 on ebay… this is my plan, as I am also on a tight budget, and burning cash, even a $5/mo Droplet, is just more than I wish to spend.
Bonus, those MicroServers are supported by ESXi, IIRC
Bonus, those MicroServers are supported by ESXi, IIRC
It is a (fairly small) desktop tower, so it takes up quite a bit more space than a couple of Pis, though, again, it also encloses some internal hard drives, which is nice. I'm not sure about power use but I'd just gut-instinct guess it's equivalent to four or five Raspberries Pi, even if you take out the power to run the hard drives, so it is (probably) worse on that front.