bare bones is a really cheap, digital sd sony handycam, or a Canon mv series, cheap as chips, but at least its digital so you can edit away to your hearts content. Picture quality is rather poor though.
I would hold out if i was you though and try to borrow or rent a camera in the mean time until you can afford a good one., if you spend 3-400 on a cheap as chips digital camera it puts you back 3-400 when it comes time to buy the one you want. and the one for 3-400 will be utterly useless to you once you upgrade, you will not want to go back.