Some people use grow bags, which led to the idea of using the reuseable grocery store bags. Those probably run for $2 or less, and can be fun-looking, depending on your feelings about them.

Otherwise, try to get free gallon containers from places like restaurants, cafes, etc that use 3 or 5-gallon buckets.

http://costcocouple.com/southern-patio-25-inch-whiskey-barrel-high-density-resin-planter/

I have a couple of these resin barrels from Costco and LOVE them. They are so light, yet quite large.

I place them on wheeled stands so I can move them a bit on my deck.

Right now, they are $3 off, making them insanely cheap.

I use hot dipped galvanized tubs. The large size, #3 by Behrens, sells for under $25 and will last a long time. You need to drill holes into the bottom. I have mine on wheels and love the look on my decks.

regular terracotta pots are much nicer than nursery cans and generally on the cheaper side when it comes to pots. plus they make roots happy, lots of air exchange. available in every size and shape imaginable, if you shop around a bit.

yea same here...I want to get good containers but most places like Home Depot , local nurseries carry ones that are more expensive than the plants themselves...looking for affordable options here..

I just had an idea that if certain sections of the yard are full of containers, maybe one big container (ie raised bed) might be nice there. It doesn't have to be 4x4 or 4x8, etc, like a typical raised be...it can be as little as 12"x12". Still made of wood or some other quality material. An example would be cinder blocks which come in a typical 16" long side, so right away, for around $5, you could have something 16"x16". The side bonus is that each of those blocks has two holes which you can also fill in with soil and grow additional plants there. So we're looking at space of 16"x16" and 8 additional holes for other plants.

You can also spray paint them on the outside if you don't want the grey color look.

You can also buy the cover stones to put on top of the cinder blocks if you don't like the holes. Just adding that cover stone makes it now look like a well-done retaining wall.