Comment by yetihehe

$200 is for assembled boards. I learned electronics and spent about $200 on it in two years, that includes cheapest soldering iron. Don't order assembled boards when you are starting. Order cheapest bluepill (STM32F103C8T6) or non-original arduino clone and start on breadboard with that. Make pcb's only when you're ready to learn more. Expect that your first one will not work or will require some "rewiring", but second one may already work. You might start with some cheap through-hole components, they are a little easier to re-wire or re-solder, it's a good idea to put your first microcontroller in socket.