Originally Posted by: renAnd on the subject of future upgrades.... if you're still playing in a couple of years, you'll be wanting an excuse to buy more guitars anyway.... :D

Along with that

The fact of the matter is... if you spend 500 dollars now... you're still going to want to get a new guitar in a few years anyway. So, it's not really worth it at the moment, especially since you're not beyond a beginner level.