I find myself in these situations sometimes, when there's a particular album I want on vinyl but finding a near mint / good+ rated copy on vinyl that isn't absurdly priced because it's out of print, I often look for the first issue CD copy. For example, the first pressing of Seal's debut album on vinyl can run up to $90 if it's the UK pressing before it was remastered. But the CD version can be had for $10! I have some albums on CD only because they were released only on CD and decades later are now being reissued on vinyl for $30+. I'm not sure if you entertain the CD listening side of things as far as your collecting goes but I've found them to be an affordable option.
