I too carried "inappropriately" for years. I spent money on good holsters, from Galco and Comp-Tac, but I resisted a belt for at least 5 years. It sounds silly, but a good belt is more important to comfortable CCWing than the holster.

Spend the money on a good gun belt, from a good gun company (i.e. - many of the mass-produced holster/belt makers are still cheap), such as:

Wilderness Tactical
Milt Sparks
Kramer
Comp-Tac
A&G Gunleather
Beltman