With the present economy, my money is very short, too-but I live in the country-I can always barter my labor for tiling a backsplash or I can bake a couple loaves of wholegrain bread for trade to a neighbor who has chickens for eggs, or a fresh free range hen, plucked and cleaned, including neck and innards for my cats and my Husky to have with their dry and canned food...
Although I buy my canine companions from a reputable AKC kennel, the opposite is true for the feline ones-I’ve never had a cat that was not a rescue-they don’t seem to have the genetic problems of purebred felines, and live long healthy lives-one exception was an orange tabby I adopted as an adult-the vet said he’d had a major head injury early in his life-he had seizures sometimes the first two years we had him, and was always somewhat fragile-he died of a brain tumor last year, but he was estimated to be about 15.
Makes sense.
None of mine are purebred either...I’ve owned a couple I suspect were half something, but the girls were a Freecycle deal from someone who had to move and the boys were from a pet shop that took oops litters to keep them from being dumped or sent to the high kill shelter.
Normally not too fussed about breed anyway, but cobby, fluffy, and blue eyed is distinctive enough to garner some guessing :-)