Ha! Your answer is a not cast iron pan, but I’m pretty sure the cast iron collection I have totalled under $100 and has been used for thousands of meals, plus bread baking, making lard from pork skin, and like flannel it gets better with time, instead of wearing out. I don’t like cooking on aluminum though. You have some funny ideas about cast iron - you can’t ruin it with a spatula, or with dish detergent, it’s not fussy at all.