Eh, it's really not that much money to get a half decent set. Learn to sharpen/hone a knife and learn how to use a knife properly and you can make even cheap knives last basically forever. Babish has a <$100 knife set that's serviceable as a professional set.

I'm very into cooking and have a $700 set of Wüsthof knives and they're awesome to use, but 100% unnecessary. They'd be no better than a dollar store knife if I didn't learn to take care of them. So many people drag knife edges sideways on cutting boards, cut on improper surfaces, cut in ways that dull the edge quickly, and then throw them in the dishwasher. Then after a year of not sharpening them replace them for more than the cost of a good sharpener.

With proper care/use and almost daily cooking I sharpen my chef's knife once a month, and my other knives once every few months. For $50 you can get a sharpening system with a guide that makes it almost impossible to fuck up and you'll never pay for knives again.