if you are, i think it is a great Idea to stick with a crappy guitar, to learn the basics and more.
for me I had a guitar called a "hondo" for about 120 bucks, then I bought a new acoustic, on my 5th yr, now I have a jackson pro series firestrom. And Its sick
If your a begginner its not essential to have a top notch guitar. Have a crappy one will only make you better. Lets say you have a guitar thats strings are high off the fretboard. you play with that one for about 3 yrs then you upgrade to something with the strings very close, and better quality. it'll prolly increase your accuracy and speed, just because your trained to have to put alot of effort into pushing your strings down.
Fortunatly I am the one out of my friends that has the best equipment. But I dont think you should listen to your friends try and convince you to buy a new guitar, who cares..
have fun :)