My first poor mans tilt shift was glorified free lensing - using an enlarging lens & a steering gaiter. I liked the options it gave & wanted to try a proper T/S but the cost was prohibitive (>£1000 at the time)
I didn't feel I could stretch to medium format lenses, so simply got a micro four thirds camera & a shift adapter that could be used with my legacy Pentax FF lenses.
Adapter & camera came to under £200, but tricked me into buying lots more MFT kit (adapters to all sorts of lenses, newer bodies & even some native lenses).
It's took me many years to add controllable shift, but I've not been convinced by that on my setup.