I'm going to say something that will raise the eyebrows of a few, oh well!

I don't believe in that Garmin Varia radar rear taillight, it's a waste of money. Does it tell you that car is coming up behind you? sure, but so does a mirror for less than $30! The Varia doesn't tell you if the car is on a collision course with you, and so what if it did, what are you going to do? run into curb? run off a mountain? And the taillight that is provided with that Varia is wholly inadequate, you need at least 200 lumens in the rear to be seen in broad daylight.

Some lights, like the Lezyne, who makes fantastic pumps, but the batteries they use only last 3 year of light use then they won't hold a charge any longer, same is true with those cheap generic Amazon lights. I haven't used the newest breed of Cygolites, they use to be goods, in fact I still have one that is about 15 years old and still holds a charge like it did when it was new, but it has a separate battery, and most people don't want those type anymore, but I haven't had any of their newer self-contained battery lights, but they should be pretty good, hopefully they have strayed from their roots of making great lights.

I have since gone with NiteRider. The NiteRider Lumina Boost series is a very ruggedly built light, it puts out 1,200 lumens, but the best part about this light...when the battery gets to the point where it won't accept a charge, for $30 (current prices) I can send the light back, and they will replace the battery along with checking the light out to make sure it's working correctly, reseal it, and send it back, very few companies offer a battery replacement program. I got mine for $45 through the refurbish tag on their website, I notice they have at least one currently available for $50 instead of $125, same warranty too as a new one would have, if that sounds like something you want you better get it fast because those refurbished lights go fast out of stock.

Taillight wise, what they call a cobb LED is horrible to use in broad daylight, the cobs get washed out completely, but they are great at night. I have a couple of taillights I use at night, both are NiteRiders, one is the Sentry Aero 260, it is a cobb light, so during the day I don't use it, but at night I mount it to my helmet, and the side to rear flashing mode is extremely noticeable. The one I use for daytime and nighttime goes on my rear seat post, it's the Omega 330 (I have the older 300 model) this thing is extremely bright in broad daylight, it puts out 330 lumens.

Personally, if you are running at night, you should have two headlights and two taillights, I understand you're on a budget, so at least get one decent headlight one really good taillight, and I think the ones I mentioned fit that bill, especially if you buy that refurbished NiteRider Lumina 1200 Boost light for just $50. Later when you get more money you can buy a second set of lights, try to find ones that will mount to the helmet if possible, a small headlight on the helmet you can use as a flasher and point it at cars in intersections to get their attention, and taillight being higher up will also help motorists to see you better. I don't have a helmet headlight anymore, but I do use a second bar light at night, but that light is no longer in production, it's a Phillips SafeRide 80 light, it's been working fantastic for about 18 years, it runs on 4 AA rechargeable bats which of course I've had to replace them over the years. But the combination of having more lights simply attracts attention better, remember, you're a cyclist, a small target, and your lights have to stand out from the sea of other lights to be noticed quicker. At night I run my NiteRider Omega 300 on steady mode, and the Aero 360 on alternating flash model and then run my Phillips on steady, and the NiteRider Lumina 1200 on strobe mode when in the city, in the country or dark bike paths I switch the Lumina to steady for more beam flood.

Also, most of the time you shouldn't even need to run your headlights on the brightest setting, I can see just fine on the medium setting, and only on the darkest nights with no streetlights and on blacktop, I might switch to high to get the best detail of the surface I'm riding on.