I've heard good things about Langlitz leathers (
http://www.langlitz.com/). I don't have one myself, so take this with a grain of salt, but friends of mine do and they believe they are the best thing out there. They make custom leather clothing with a 100% satisfaction guarantee (if you don't like it, they'll make you a new one, even if you were the one that screwed up). They're not cheap (I know you are on a budget), but if the reports I've read of 45 year old jackets still looking and working almost like new are true, you probably won't need to buy another one in your lifetime.