$50 is not a budget for this unless you intend to hunt around the second hand market. Heck, you already wasted close to that with your gel purchase. Sell both your old saddles on CL/Ebay for what you can get, suck it up, buy something decent and only cry once. If this issue has motivated you to post here, you are motivated enough to find a lasting solution and the few extra $$ it takes to get there.

Saddles remain a very personal choice. I'm an absolute fan of Brooks. They break in far faster than 98% of the horror stories you hear, and then you are set for life. The key about leather is it conforms to you, so if you got it close you'll eventually be great. i.e, close counts with horseshoes, hand grenades, AND high quality leather saddles.

Non-leather you need to get completely right because it ain't changing, but if you get it right they can be absolutely great. It takes some test sitting and usually one or more of: lots of luck, lots of money, a good LBS. No need to spend lots of money on Ti rails, but you do need to spend some on the rest of the saddle. Edited to add: you might find a great fit in a $30 saddle, but it might take you 6 $30 saddles to get there. Or your $150 saddle may be miserable. Money is an odd variable here.

Cheap leather is bad.