IMO, your interest and appreciation is what matters far more as an enthusiast.

You can start where you need to start. It's not about money. I've seen loads of posts in here where people have modified really cheap boards, and the results have been impressive. I am not talking about people who just buy cheap stuff off amazon, but people who have perhaps a cheap, office type mechanical board, and have spent a lot of time and effort modifying it to be better than it was. This is more impressive than posting photos of the latest thing you have bought. This hobby needn't be expensive at all. Id rather see someone spending time and effort on something than just buying a Key Cult. Spending money doesn't need skill and passion.

TL;DR?

>Am I considered into the hobby even if I don't have the money for it

Yes.

I will put this in simpler terms: “am I allowed to say I am into Porsches even though I can’t afford one?”. Ofc you are.

Gatekeepers will be everywhere but most people actually just like to have a talk about the stuff they like, if they also have what they like it is a bonus.

Currently I am using a (poorly) modded Redragon cause I find it better than my Corsair until I finish the uni year and get a Q series board. Does it mean I am not allowed to like keyboards until I get the Keychron? Ofc not

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If you know how to solder you could even make your own keyboard/macropad.

its really easy.

just get a broken mech-board that you can gut for parts. [you can get em really really cheap]

and get a arduino.

{if you have access to a 3d printer, print a case}

then handwire your macropad

at most you will have spend 10$ in total [of which half goes to the arduino]

Hey dude, I've dived in on the budget end of the hobby too

All you need is a soldering iron, a computer capable of reading a usb drive and a text editor like notepad. Anything else you can either scrounge or get pretty cheap

I've made myself a macropad that feels very satisfying to type on and am partway through a 40% keyboard.