I got mine for just under $1800 US early this year, with just online deals available at the time, no waiting for better pricing (honestly PSU prices were INSANE at the time and that made a difference). I wouldn’t change a single part today. It does everything I need (including video editing/rendering)
It’s unfortunately a valid “defeatist” point that I hate finding myself falling back into over and over on so many issues. It shouldn’t be so hard to say ‘yo can you stop taking advantage of me for personal financial gain in every possible scenario’?