What camera did you have? What features does it need? Depending on what you want, there are plenty of good digital cameras on the market for $100 or so -- they are mostly last year's model, or refurbished cameras, etc. But last year's digital cameras still take great pictures.

Once you've bought several disposable cameras, you've paid for a new digital camera of your own.

(If what you really need is a professional D-SLR camera, then this doesn't help. But then I don't think you'd be happy with the disposables, either.)
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--Ken B