Tangential, but I’ve found this type of thing occurs pretty regularly. Where the economics of the industry have pushed the maintenance cost down to only a bit over the labour, and the actual equipment cost is somewhat negligible, so for an enterprising homeowner you get do the work yourself and end up with some equipment that you can use in the future for effectively nothing.
Most recently, I bought a house with an irrigation system. Learned that in our cold climate they need to be blown out before winter to avoid freezing. Called around and was quoted $250. Went on YouTube and learned the general concept, went to Home Depot and bought an air compressor and an irrigation system adapter for $275, and did it myself in an afternoon.
Admittedly, it took quite a while to diagnose the problems and get everything updated, but I consider that stuff a hobby.
A friend once got an old PowerPC iMac off eBay, and it perfectly ran Ubuntu 12.04 IIRC.
He set it up as a remote testbed for PPC benchmarking, since the Mars rovers use the same generation of PPC processors.
Cell phones are much more repairable than they seem. You can replace screens, batteries, USB ports, antennas, etc. A new battery and factory reset makes it seem completely new.
Laptops can often be repaired or upgraded, especially earlier MacBooks or current Dells. I've upgraded my old (2014?) MacBook pro and used it for daily use for years. You can even get NMVe converters and I've thought about making a usbC charge plug for them.
I've heard that swapping out the capacitors in TVs can bring them back to life. Haven't tried it.
I've brought baby equipment back to life, fixed janky strollers with 3d printed parts.
Try just repainting furniture. It'll feel new and costs maybe 10 bucks. Get some plastic wood to fill in cracks or holes, and you won't believe how much better things look.
I once got a baby high chair for free because they sent two left legs instead of right and left. I drilled out the appropriate screw holes to convert one to the right side and filled in the existing holes. That saved enough money to pay for the drill press I used.
Ifixit.com has become one of my favorite sites.