alternative to FsXPand for network instrument display?

Hi everyone.  I'm new to this forum, but I've already been gleaning a ton of great info and have had positive experiences interacting with a few of you already!  

I'm smack dab in the middle of my very first simulator/cockpit build and I am intending to use P3Dv2 (and probably x-plane 10, interchangeably) as the simulation of choice.  I've been thinking a lot about how to do the instrument panels.  I think I am settled on it being a bit of a hybrid of some saitek hardware for radio stack stuff, and some form of monitor behind my yoke for the primary flight instruments.  

Originally my plan was to connect a 4th monitor (I've got an nvidia GeForce 600ti with 3 LCD tvs set in "surround mode" with a 4th monitor that can be still be connected) and just set up a new window in P3D showing the instrument panel from the virtual cockpit.   In testing, my FPS takes a bit of a hit doing that, and in the virtual cockpit view, the camera still likes to bob and weave a little bit with the motion of the aircraft.  Not ideal, but it would work.   In my research I was trying to find some sort of external software that could just display a custom layout of instruments that link up with the data from the simulator, and that brought me to discover FsXPand, which I've downloaded and tested the demo and it works fabulously.  It is way less demanding it seems than using the second virtual cockpit window.  My main issue with it is that I'm trying to stay inside a budget, and the 70-115 dollars or so that the software would run just doesn't seem like a wise choice at this point when I'm pressing up against the upper limit of what I really hoped to spend.  

I wondered if there were any other solutions out there, perhaps open source, or just some of your guys' ideas that you've implemented to display instruments in a way that was functional yet still cost friendly?    

Thanks for all the help, I'm excited to get involved with the forum!

Jeremy