When someone is putting a cap on a hobby, then this person is simply wasting time.
You gotta be realistic, any hobby will pull cash at some point. This is not like a casino where one says I will go with 200 and leave as soon as all is gone.
Do you have the time to work on the crawler? Do you have the skills to upgrade? If this is to bash around a little and get a feel for the crawler deal and if you dont like it give it to someone in the family or the newspaper kid etc, whatever, then buy a Redcat. Which if your max is 200 then modding and competition is not what you are looking for.
I would give it a try to the HG P402 or the Redcat, its about the same as a traffic ticket, you live, you learn. Either keep having more tickets, or it will be your last.