For example, a set of h&r lowering springs can be had for about 250 new and whatever used. Those springs will still have you higher than a stock mazda 6 for example while imprving handling alot without introducing undesirable things such as stiff ride, bottoming out or rubbing. They also work well with the stock dampers. They can be installed with simple hand tools, a jack (jackstand) and a cheap spring compressor.
That one item alone would make the car more sporty and less goofy looking. The other popular item would be a rear sway bar. $200 or less depending on brand, but most likely if you are a noob at working on cars you'd have to lay for an install. It's difficult to do in a driveway with awd because you have to lower the rear subframe which is better done on a lift. The actual swap is very simple, just getting to is inconvinient. Those would be two items you could have for less than 1g assuming you paid for installation and alignment (which you meed after changing ride height). An engine tune runs about $500 for whatever octane and improves the powerband. I.e you have more horsepower everywhere instead of just at "peak". Also the speed at which the TB opens and closes during shifting is changed which gives quicker power shifiting (the lag people notice is because of an oem ecu tune emissions strategy; it happens on subies too). The degree of change in the suspension mods are higher than the ecu tune change in general ao it's a better value to upgrade suspension on a smaller budget. Wider tires and wheel are a good one too, but that will bust 1k easily.