Yellow script augmentation an alternative to overmelding

[Elamys]

I gathered and made all of my gear myself, which significantly cut down on costs. Gathering materials yourself will always save the most costs. I also had a lot of grade V materias left from stockpiling at the end of Heavensward, which isn't so much an option for you now, but can still be purchased with red scrips. Like Caimie said, you can do cheaper melds and replace them later. Also, if you have a lot of combat materia, Mutamix's roulette is a much better option now for getting good materia. I turned all my unused combat materia and by the end of it had pretty much all gathering and crafting materia.

I think it's also important to consider what your goals in crafting are. Is it merely to be able to make some leveling gear, do your own repairs, etc? Heck, a twinsilk set is enough to get you past, and that's inexpensive to make. Is it to make endgame gear and do hard crafts? You'll want to eventually get a pentamelded Ala Mhigan set. Is it to make furnishings? An unmelded or partially melded Ala Mhigan set might be good, or basic scrip items. It's up to you to decide how deep you wanna get into crafting.