I will bite the bullet and get a portable one in a few weeks or whatever when they are back in stock.
Having a whole house backup would be great, my parents have one with two huge propane tanks. But just having the ability to run the fridge, AC/space heaters, and if I unhook everything else to be able to run the water heater for an hour...I think that is doable for sub $1k.
Luckily I am friends with my next door neighbors and they had their father's generator that they let me hook my fridge up to right now. Only lost the immediate perishables like meats and soft cheese and whatnot.