It's really infuriating to see people that don't even know what an aperture is and would think a prime lens is crap "cuz it cant zoom" pull out photographs that are practically perfect. The dumbing down of it all really bothers me.
It's just like freaking toddlers, taking cake and eating nothing but the icing atop.
I bought a canon g10 from craigslist for 160$, took great pictures even though it was a couple years old.. maybe see if there's anything up on your locals? you can get a decent camera used. Most people buy them thinking they're going to take pics, and it just ends up laying around. Make sure person you speak to is not sketchy, there's no way to track a stolen camera.. my camera was stolen from me :'(
What have you decided on?!
Wtf is arperture. Blind photographer here :)