One other observation: if you don't have the money to buy new, buy used. There's a place called Anderson's Office Liquidators in Tucson that sells Aerons for $500. Aerons last a really long time -- which can be useful in the resale market.
I think you have to be "a frugal bootstrapper," but there's a key difference between "frugal" and "stingy" or "foolish." Good chairs are an obvious place where that difference plays out.
Two years ago my employer threw out the 12-month old decent chairs my IT department bought for ourselves, and replaced them with spectacularly uncomfortable new cheap ones.
So I bought a 6-year old Aeron on eBay for my own use at work and have been very happy with it. Apart from a couple of small scratches on the feet it is still like new today. As an investment in my own comfort at work it has already paid for itself.
I think you have to be "a frugal bootstrapper," but there's a key difference between "frugal" and "stingy" or "foolish." Good chairs are an obvious place where that difference plays out.