Hi Ron,
First off, welcome to ECN.
Personally I've always believed that there is no excuse for using a $20 multimeter and that you should always buy the best test equipment you can afford (or start saving and get it), I mean do you really want to put such a low price on your life?
I've had the same test equipment since I started out in this trade (and that wasn't exactly yesterday either).
Good tools and test equipment are an investment and if you look after them and don't abuse them, they should by rights last your whole career.
