Wood Working Noob - "Cheap" Video Frustrations

I'm sick of this... These YouTube channels purporting to show how to make a "cheap" custom desk and then proceeding to pull out hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds worth of equipment.

Yes, yes "this" project cost you $100, but only because you already had the $12,000 of supporting tooling and kit ready for use.

Worse still are those videos showing them using something - like "biscuits" to connect cheap planks into a surface - and then they say "you don't need to use these"... Oh yeah, so WHAT DO YOU USE?

It is so frustrating!

I am in a quandary as to how to proceed in here and until I have a plan for the desks I don't want to start the job.

My current thinking is to find a cupboard, oak or oak veneer finish, have it stood to the right of the desk as a right hand support and float a worktop or bonded set of planks as my main desk surface, and this is to go from wall to wall on this particular wall, and this is my home desk for projects and modelling I undertake.

With my free standing ikea cheap desk being replaced with another free standing compute desk just for work purposes.

This duality of purpose to the room is important, I need to be able to just look at the desk and work not being distracted by my own home projects.

How to ignore all the stuff?  Well, I want to put things out of sight, hence the cupboard use at one end.

I also want to wall mount a book-case with French Cleats and put doors on the front of this, it might only have to be a piece from Ikea for cost purposes, but this is all a secondary from the main worksurface, and I am honestly frustrated with these "easy" or "cheap" projects all using so much expensive kit.

My equipment list is:

* Chop/Bench Saw

* Jigsaw

* Sander

And a modest budget for clamps... Stain and the like.

I can maybe get my hands on a router and a few other tools, but this is a pain to figure as a total noob.