I am looking to hear experiences with 99Designs or other crowdsourced design products. Having a logo/website designed for $600-1200 USD seems like it would be a good deal if you receive what you wanted. If you used alternatives to 99Designs or have suggestions for those looking for logo/website design that doesn’t cost thousands of dollars, please share. Of course, I would prefer to work with a local company but the budget is small and coming out of my pocket.
When it comes to design, it really is a case of you get what you pay for imo.
I would look for newer design agencies in your area and see if you can get a good deal out of them - companies starting up will want to get portfolio pieces up quickly so they might be willing to work with you at a discounted rate.
Other than that, like what Andre has said - look at templates/themes and pay someone to modify them. (Though I’d still argue that good custom design is priceless in most cases.)