I had 1 year break from flying after my initial IR test and in the run up to my first renewal I spent a few weeks on Microsoft flight simulator (2nd hand copy from Amazon, 5 quid!) just flying SID's and STAR's from random airports using analogue dials in the Cessna 172. Nothing complicated and the renewal went fine.
Soon after I had an interview and sim check - I went back to Microsoft flight sim but this time started flying the Learjet just because everything happens quicker. Practiced the standard call outs and forced myself to brief ILS plates for airports I'd not flown to before. Also did VOR DME approaches hand flown calling out the altitude step downs from the plate. The sim went well and I got the job.
I'm not saying the above method will work for everyone, but with some discipline and a good imagination you can get most of the practice you need from a simple computer game without spending hundreds of pounds!