I can handle non-neat growers; we raised four boys (and finally a very "neat" girl), so wild roots and vines are a cake walk.
To me it's not really the money but rather felling I let a growing thing down when it dies. I was just thinking about it and realized I have not lost an orchid yet. I had a Lycaste whose roots I discovered were all rotted 3 weeks after I bought it. At a suggestion/encouragement from drdawg and trying a couple little things I found online, I gave it some time & TLC and now it is going crazy with growth. Hopefully in spring it will flower again.
I hear a lot of people say try 3x before giving up on a plant. From now on though I think I'm going to give a plant one try; if I lose it I'll replace it but I'm going to call it a weed and see if that's the secret to making it thrive.
Actually I spend a fair bit of time researching any I'm unfamiliar with before I buy so I have a good idea what it needs; placing it for proper light, and with other plants needing similar watering schedules has improved my odds a lot. Also having an assortment of ones that want lots of attention helps me a lot with ones like orchids that enjoy being ignored. (I have a collection of hardy ferns, Elephant Ears, and pond plants I can water all I want while the orchids and succulents enjoy their "me" time.)
