I see yah in terms of how I spend money I am more of a spend big on something like my computer, or setup then save up for a while to presurve my savings then do some big project again. In other words I am not a nickle and dimer.
I'll have to look at those engines seems cool, and even if the coding is simple long as it is effective thats what matters. If the programing syntax is tough to grasp for anyone advanced bargainer, or otherwise it won't be fun or productive. I am new, but I love php, and mysql. I just love the open source free platforms in terms of programing. Java is good one too for game development. From what I have seen it is not to hard to pick up either.