okay, it's like this. I'm finishing the first of my raised beds today. I am determined to get it done all today. I'm going to Lowe's (yes, Lowe's) for the fill. My bed is made from landscaping timbers and is 16'x4'x9"...We have clay soil, so I'm going to hollow it out before filling. But, my yard is on a slope so some of it is a few inches in the ground, on the top half. The bed is going up and down, with the short ends at the top and bottom of the slope. It's not a bad slope, just slight. Anyways, my native soil, as I said, is clay, but not for a few inches in most spots. When we started digging, the first part of the dirt came up fairly easily, as I had a regular veggie bed there last year and the soil was worked a bit. One of my questions is, can I use any of this existing soil to mix in with amendments, to save money? There were weeds (I guess they were weeds) in the dirt before I broke it up this year, and will these be okay to leave in if I just add to the soil with bagged stuff? I can save a lot of money if I can work in a bunch of bagged mixes instead of completely hollowing out the entire bed and filling it. Last year, the soil I noticed kind of got this desert look to it and was solid and cracked...It seemed like it was kinda harsh, although my veggies did pretty well, except root crops didn't grow AT ALL. I can't do "Mel's Mix" because it's too expensive, before anyone says it and I don't have access to compost, except the bagged stuff I can get at the store. They have on the website, but not sure of it's in the store, bags of Compost Peat Humus for 1.59, 40 lb bags....Ready to use compost steer manure, 1 cubic foot for 1.86....Black Kow Premium Topsoil, 2.49 for 40 lb bag....

Which and how many should I get for this size bed? First, assuming I'm mixing in with existing soil, which I would rather do, if I could, and also with hollowing it out. Keep in mind I'm putting a layer of cardboard down under all of the soil as well.

The local nursery also has composted mulch (which is not a fill, but an amendment, and topsoil (which I'm not sure is nutritionally sound) that they will deliver, but it's expensive to do as the have a minimum delivery requirement....When I asked about the topsoil, they said it would be 86 bucks to fill that space, but I'm not sure if that meant they could deliver that amount or if that was just like, if I picked it up, which I can't do for lack of a truck. Wouldn't the bagged stuff be better for nutrients, since I can mix it up with bagged compost? Or should I try to find out if I can get a composted mulch/topsoil mix delievered?

Please someone help me, I need to know today how much of what I need, because if I don't do it today, there's no telling when I would be able to and I'm a clueless gardener.