No worries, I probably could have worded it better anyways

That is what I meant. With desktops that are short side down, the motherboard side with the CPU socket, PCIe slots, etc. should be considered as upwards

If you put the empty side towards the top of the machine, that works first try 95% of the time. For desktops, the top of the machine is motherboard side up.

There is the factory seconds stock, which is cheaper, but RAM, storage, Wi-Fi card, power brick and expansion cards are sold separately. https://frame.work/products/factory-seconds-framework-laptop-13-diy-edition-11th-gen-intel-core Still over your price range though.