One of the most important things in portrait lighting that no one ever told me. Is that light placement is one of the most critical aspects of lighting. Once I learned this, it completely changed my portrait shooting. My godox speedlight and $30 Amazon octobox suddenly became capable of really good images.
With all that said. My opinion is that one of the very first things you should put money towards is a good light stand and boom arm. These days, a very sturdy C Stand/turtle base stand with a boom arm can be had from Amazon or
Adorama in the $120-$140 range. I have used a very cheap pair of ankle weights for counter weights since I started working with lighting. I paid $10 for those as opposed to a minimum of $20 for a photography weight bag which doesn’t even come with weight in it.
With a C Stand and boom, the versatility of your light placement opens up your lighting to many different looks with the same light and modifier.