It isn't about best value, it is getting the job done while leaving some money for other toys.
You really should buy the $20 Radio Shack DVM or equiv. You can find these for $9.99 and $14.99 if you shop around and don't mind a 1-page "nearly English" manual. They ARE accurate, as far as they go. Even if you get a super-sexed meter, you always need another so you can watch two values at once.
Many low-price DVMs (even some famous brands) think "AC Volts" means 25Hz-400Hz. They can't be used for audio frequency response. Perfectly good (and accurate) at 100-200Hz. If you have some other device that is "flat" (but not calibrated) 20Hz-20KHz, you can use the two to get precise frequency response.
Many DVMs will not measure the DC Ohms of a large choke or tube output transformer. They may tell you the winding is "open" when it isn't. Never trust them on funny loads.
I would not be without a basic VACUUM TUBE analog voltmeter. (The FET "VTVM"s are a poor second choice.) I get mine in dumpsters; eBay must be loaded. Heath IM-28 is a fine machine, except the probe needs a lot of repairs. (Be sure you get the probe: most VTVMs have a switched resistor in the probe.) The accuracy of an analog VTVM is 2% best, 10% after you sling it around, but it will read DC Ohms inside big chokes, it will read AC Volts from 20Hz to 400KHz naturally-flat. It may not give the exact answer, but it gives a good-enough answer and can't be fooled by digital sampling glitches.
And then there is my 2.5-digit Nixie-tube Heath IM-1202 "Digital Multimeter". This isn't even as accurate as a good mirror-scale analog needle, and hopeless on quick-changing signals, but is Nixie-neat.