Unless you're wedded to the Apple infrastructure, it may be worth casting your eyes over the world of Android. Very functional phones can be had for very little money.
one major selling point for the iPhone is that you are virtually guaranteed to get software and security updates for a lot longer. It is also much easier to get genuine repairs done, particularly the battery which is guaranteed to go at some point.
if cost was a concern I'd go for a used iPhone over a new Android device any day, and you'd likely get a far better device overall (cheap Androids can be very meh). I gather the 2022 iPhone SE is a good buy. I have the 2020 model which is the same externally but has older innards (no 5G and an irritatingly bad battery life) - I gather the newer one has both issues fixed. As the SE typically uses older case designs to save money, I wonder if this will be the return of the mini that a few people here want to see.
As 3G shutdown looms, it is important to buy a phone that supports 4G calling. All iPhones from the 6 onwards support it on every network, but Android again can be hit and miss especially if you aren't a direct customer of the big 4 - I have a Nokia here that has 4G and wifi calling with a Vodafone SIM, but not a Lebara SIM even though they use the same network and appear to use the same internal systems.
The only bugbear is that the latter is the only model which still has Touch ID, and I'm not sure if I can get my head around Face ID just yet (although should be able to once I've had a bit of practice!).
If you do (I upgraded to a 14 pro last year from the aforementioned SE), you might find it quite a nice change - you just have to look at the phone (and it does check, you can't just point it at your head). The only thing to watch out for, if you use Apple Pay, is to double tap the power button and select the card *before* you put it near the card reader. I've made a few payments on the wrong card by not doing that. It's great when wearing gloves as well.
Samsung Galaxy S23/24!