Owning aircraft is a mixture of cost, convenience, pride and having access to the aircraft you want. i think that costs can be misleading. A look at five years accounts for a standard Cherokee 140 group I am in showed an average cost of £130 per hour. This includes everything. A bit cheaper than hiring but not much. Hassel factor of running one's own group against availability? Fear that a major failure will lead to all the group digging into their pockets! You really need to look at cost carefully.
Being in a small group is I believe the compromise. Any flying is expensive so accept it. If you want something aerobatic then accept the (probably) greater cost involved in a more powerful aeroplane. If permit stuff is for you then there are many cheap aircraft out there where there are shares available. Above all, choose something which ties in with your lifestyle and the type of flying you will do (not the type you dream about doing). I have a great permit aircraft for touring - fast and cheap to run. Trouble is I never have the time to go anywhere more than a couple of hours flight time from where it is based (and where it is based is an hour's drive each way from where I live). So, it spends most of its life in the hangar.