Son was here today with his camera so I grabbed a pic of Big Ugly. It is my testament to building a UDS on the cheap. My first day logging on here, I started reading the UDS thread(s) (and still read the new posts) and decided that this was the easiest and most economical path to real Q. As much as I wanted to incorporate some of the great ideas that others have offered, I kept telling myself "No; stick with the KISS method."
It's an open top drum with a flat lid and band clamp. In it's previous life, the drum held insulated glass sealant. Burned it, followed up with a grinder over the interior. This is when I learned that a 24 grit flap wheel is no match for whatever type of gloves you're wearing...
The Weber lid was from a kettle found rotting away under a deck. No legs, no grates, and the bottom half nearly rusted away. I had spotted it laying there, and was driving by one day when the owner was pulling out of the driveway. She was happy to see it go, since it was too large to throw in the trash. I did have to unroll the edge of the lid and hammer it flat to get it to halfway fit. It's not 100% airtight, but it works. I still have and occasionally use the flat lid also.
For me, the real fun was the hunting and salvaging the stuff to do the build. Additional kettle style grills (all freebies) found on CL and curbs yielded grates and additional lids. A stop on a whim at a welding shop got me a 24" x 54" piece of expanded metal for a couple of coal baskets. A piece of coat hanger makes a dandy basket handle. I'm using disc magnets over my intake holes instead of pipe nipples and valves. I'm getting pretty good at sliding them open and closed them with the toe of my shoe.
Between the thermometer and the nuts and bolts, I think I have about $25 invested. I did pick up a couple of cheapo grills at Dollar General Store late last fall on closeout for $6 each, one of which is now my ashpan.
Is it perfect? No, but it's pretty darn close. I don't get to cook on it as often as I would like to, but so far, I've been pretty happy with everything that has come out of it. Based on personal experience, I too would encourage first time builders to read the UDS threads, and keep it simple.
Chris