Sometimes when you say best bang for your buck, it may mean hiring a Micosoft Certified IT Professional. And, you have your brother-in-law, correct? Having SBS 2011 set up correctly the first time will give you a clean error report.
This is my rule of two when it comes to others helping.
1. Most will recommend what they are familiar with. Do you think I would advise you to use Linux? Probably a good idea that they are familiar with it.
2. Most will recommend what they would purchase if they had your money.
Anyway, getting an objective person who is Microsoft trained help you with the hardware and the install of either your server or network can save tons of money, and maybe they even remote in for a comfortable price.
If you have an issue, most can remote in, look at your event monitor and tell you your problem. If they monitor it everyday, your event monitor will likely be clean.
