$30 is cheap for pedals, but not for $15 walmart looking pedals.
Guess it really depends who you ask. I’ve been on Crank Bros for 4 years now. Wouldn’t change my pedals. I have the Mallets. Weight-wise, they have some beef to them as they are more of a freeride pedal, but they have been bulletproof and I am the farthest thing from a weight-weenie as possible. I have had to replace the cleats once as they wear over time.
The thing I like MOST about them is that they are intuitive. Getting out is as easy as rotating your heel outwards. This motion occurs naturally during falls anyways so it is very easy to get your feet out, even as your headed over the bars.
That said, it doesn’t seem like the type of riding you are talking about warrants clipless.
I’m guessing your bike has pedals already, but they don’t grip your foot as well as you would like? If you want to be really cheap, just take a rough file to the tops of the smoothed spikes that don’t do shit for grip. It will help a little. Thats what I did because I was to cheap. If I rode a lot more tho I would get something better. Thats just an idea for you tho. If you don’t even have pedals on your bike yet than forget what I just said. 
I ended up getting some cheap $20 pedals from northstar bikes.
I have only ridden the bike around the neighborhood, to Andersons with the fam and to work a few times and now one of them creaks pretty good.
I’m not exactly nice to the bike. I can hardly get up onto tall curbs. I’d like to get more than 10"… off the ground
Any tricks to getting bikes like this up in the air? I also can not seem to get much off driveway/curb approaches 
I can grab the front brake and get the rear around OK, but the front brake is annoying when I need to pull almost to the hand grip before it bites. other times, not so much.
Would air make the travel fluctuate like that?