It really isn't insurmountable. Old PC or a cheap lower power unit with at least 8 gigs of ram, probably 1-2tb of storage. You can flash StartOS (formerly EmbassyOS) on to it and they have user guides and amazingly simple step by step walkthroughs. Plug that sucker in and let it be your LN node. nostr:nprofile1qqs9df4h2deu3aae83fmet5xmrlm4w5l9gdnsy3q2n7dklem7ezmwfcpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhsz3rhwvaz7tekd3jks6rev3ehyargv9nk66tnxe6h2dn5w43kuerk0fmnwcm4vfc8z6mgweu8j7fhdfhkjmmrxs6k66mnwg6x2cty9ehku6t0dchsz9mhwden5te0wfjkccte9ehx7um5wghxjmnxduhs5nd6j2 really made it simple.
Discussion
I want to do it, I’m just lazy lol
One great lazy way to go is to buy the Server One from Start9 themselves, though you still have to do minimal setup of that. It's deliberately made to be as easy as possible to get self custodial bitcoin and lightning ok that sucker.
Barring that, I swear by Sparrow Wallet and Nunchuk as far as self custody bitcoin goes, and you can use those with or without your own node. Then for a private payment intermediary and cheap fees via lightning and whatnot, looks like Coinos is really really good, as recommended by nostr:nprofile1qqsv8tj2mrsx4ywzqpr466w2jpzq6m25meef60g7ttavl0dku4x5djcpz4mhxue69uhkg6t5w3hjuur4vghhyetvv9uszrnhwden5te0dehhxtnvdakz7qg7waehxw309ahx7um5wgkhqatz9emk2mrvdaexgetj9ehx2ap0wlxfg8
I think for now I’ve settled on BlueWallet and Breez Wallet. Both are non custodial. Was seriously considering coinos but I really wanted a non custodial LN wallet. Breez seems to run the node on your phone
I have had Breez and couldn't figure that out yet lol. But I didn't make time to focus on it.
I guess I’ll see how much I actually use it. I really only use LN for zapping on my primal wallet