A little food for thought. An old Belsaw mill, like the cheap ones on eBay, can be had very reasonably. They can be a true 1 man mill, like a bandmill...and will do acceptable work. I have seen them sell for $500....pretty cheap, considering the blade often times is worth that. The only downfall is they are a circle mill, and can be extremely dangerous. Just about anything that makes logs into lumber can hurt you, a circle mill will not forgive any mistakes. The advantage is they are a real mill, parts are available, and if you are mechanically inclined, working on one is a piece of cake...plus you can power them from a tractor, or even an automotive motor.....they don't take big horsepower.
I have been in the money crunch before, but I doubt you would be happy with an Alaskan style mill unless you plan on very little cutting.