Hard wiring lights?

That's exactly why some guys use headlight relays. On my car, which you might call "very low budget," I used a 95 Voyager underhood relay/ fuse box. Bussman makes some which you can configure in many different ways.

But it's not just the lights, it's the ammeter/ battery feed, the ignition feed, and headlights. I don't think wipers/ turn signals, etc, give that much trouble, but they still go through there.