When it comes to using a wallet, it is always advised that we choose a very good wallet with effective security. In as much as we always encourage the hardware form of non custodial wallet, the price happens to be a big deal, though there are few other options, like software mobile wallets that can be installed on our mobile phones, and few of them have similar features like good security and Open source AFAIK. And importation using our phrase makes it easier to recover a wallet, rather than creating a fresh one.
Hardware wallet might look expensive due to our currency conversion but cheap wallets might not be as good as you think. You can get Trezor model 1 hardware wallets to keep your coins and still be safe with as low as $49 directly from the company exclusion of the shipping fees. It's advisable to go for newer model of the hardware wallets because of some functionalities, sometimes you don't even get most updates like the latest model versions.
However, if you have a computer at home, it can be use as an airgap wallet. This is a type of wallet that don't have access to the internet, your private keys are never connected to the internet. If you have such device at home, download an electrum wallet from the official website and disconnect the internet, set up your seed phrase and write it down somewhere safe, open the wallet and you have created an airgap wallet. What you do next?
Copy the wallet address and import it into your phone or another computer with any wallet that is connected to the internet as watch only address. You can watch balance, receive coins on the wallets and create a partially sign transaction with it. When you are ready to broadcast the transaction, copy it and import it to the computer you have electrum but never connected to the internet. Import the transaction and sign it and then export with your usb and then import it back to your watch only wallet address and broadcast the transaction. That way, you don't have to worry about hardware wallets if you don't manage large funds and don't have money to buy hardware wallets but I will still advice you to get one when you have money.