We have a used bike store in our town that sometimes has bargains....another place to look. My first road bike was a Flandria for $60 at a garage sale. I rode it for 16 years before the mountain bike bug hit me. I wore regular shorts on all my rides and while I admit there's a plus to bike shorts, I was ok with what I had.

Familiarize yourself with good and bad components if you haven't already, so you can sort the difference between good cheap and bad cheap. Stamped steel brakes come to mind. Flat and you could prolly bend 'em with your hand.