Don't write off Gliding
Luke
I'm not a regular contributor to PPRUNe but your post caught my eye. I'm impressed with the amount of research you've done and thought gone into it, as others have said doing aviation 'on the cheap' is a good way to run up into trouble, the place you are flying at now seems good value and is best for what you need, don't let it go for just a small difference.
However I really think you really should re-consider your point about Gliding, how do you know you won't enjoy it without at least trying it out, after all, flying in straight lines is surely not that fun either!
To give my story, I was in your position at 14 in 2011 starting out Microlighting, I could barely afford a lesson a month so it was pointless, however I took up Gliding, went Solo at 15 and took advantage of the many scholarships available.
Now at 19 I work for one of the largest gliding clubs in the world in the summer as a professional instructor with hundreds of hours, and during the winter I live out in Australia doing the same!
At the same time I'm just about to finish of my NPPL which was mostly funded by a Scholarship, doesn't take much to cover it especially as Glider Pilots don't have to complete as many hours to get the licence, and future progression will hopefully be onto towing gliders and building some hours for CPL at no cost over the summer, a mate of mine did 200 hours power for absolutely nothing at a gliding club this year and had a free tailwheel conversion thrown in too. You cannot beat that!
To get to that level I have certainly not spent anywhere near the amount of a PPL and I don't come from a privileged background, but like others have advised you to do, I did muck in doing all the dirty jobs and sacrificing a few days flying for it, but it's totally worth it. So don't write off Gliding, for starting at just £10 a flight at some places you'll get far more airtime for your buck than you'll ever get in a power plane unless you win the lottery, plus it looks good on any application and there's a great social community of hundreds of young people in Gliding, many of which are now FOs and thank gliding for helping them towards it!
Just my two cents!
Planesandthings