Cheap? You want cheap?
I've ended up using U stakes made from coat hanger wire. I have a nice selection of Ti stakes and Y stakes and V stakes that I use when going west (from Austin, TX). But going east, I use the U stakes, including on AT thruhikes. They can't be pounded into earthcrete, but they will last an entire thruhike. If I lose one all I have to do is borrow someone's multitool and scrounge a coat hanger. I cut one leg about 7 inches and the other about 5. They weigh the same as regular 9 inch Ti stakes, but hold much better in the loose forest litter east of the 95th longitude. I use these on my hammock tarp. As you know, hammock tarps are set high, so the tension is more in line with the stake than it is for tents and tarps set close to the ground. The extra "hold" of the U stake seems to work better for that.

I've made U stakes from Titanium, piano wire and everything in between, but the softer steel of coat hanger wire seems to do the better job. Getting to this point was a matter of evolution and opportunism rather than planning or design. Staying with it is a matter of functionality.

I, too, carry a Ti stake (a lightweight 7-incher) in the bag to make pilot holes in uncooperative soil.