Ronin,
As a person who is working to pay for all of my secondaries and app fees, I can empathize with your financial concerns.
Posting your stats and accomplishments may give us a better idea of where your application should be targeted. My suggestion is to organize all of the schools on your AMCAS under the following headings: (I'll use some random examples)
- out of state, probably impossible (Duke, Stanford)
- out of state, have a slim chance (Indiana, U. Michigan)
- out of state, have a good chance of admission (Finch)
- your state's public / D.O. (if applicable) schools
Decide how much money you wanna shell out on secondaries / interviews. Assume about $100 per school for secondaries. So, suppose you choose to spend $1200 on secondaries. Spread out 12 schools under the headings, so that it looks like a pyramid. In other words, more apps to schools you have a better chance at, but still throw in a couple at more prestigious schools just in case.
Do not make the mistake of only applying to schools you perceive as "easy", because this process is random and you never know. You may apply to 4 in-state schools, 1 slim out of state, and throw in Hopkins, and find out that Hopkins is the only school that accepts you.
I hope this quick chart is of some help, it has helped me prioritize my applications, save some money, all while maintaing a decent chance of getting in somewhere.
Good Luck!