Once you've got your PPL in hand and have made a few trips really for no reason other than for enjoyment you'll be much more relaxed. At that point your perspective will change from "can I really afford this luxury?" to "what do I have to do to come up with the $ to pay for this?!!!". For me, airplane flying didn't become fun until after I had my license. At that point, to my wife's dismay, cost wasn't an issue anymore.
As for the instrument rating...they're not for everyone and don't let people pressure you into thinking you need one if you're really not interested. There's a lot of good fun VFR flying to be done.