Another option besides networking is going to places where people like you (or people you're interested in) are likely to congregate. So like, I hang out at my local hackerspace, and I also take folk music classes at a local nonprofit, because I like technology and DIY and music. I already have close friends and I'm not looking to add on more, but if I wanted to, I could do it from these places.
Question. Do you have any tips on how to do this if the spaces where people similar to me congregate are either beyond my budget or simply non-existent?
Ah yeah. I forget, my particular hackerspace is one of the cheapest in the nation. First, if you do have a space near you, investigate if they have any kind of starving hacker program. There's no real standard for the particulars of these programs, but they're all about giving low-income people access to the space by waiving or reducing dues. Some spaces have them, other's don't, depending on their financial situation and particular community culture. If you do not have a space nearby, but your near a decent sized population, you might consider starting one yourself! It does require a significant investment of time and effort, but it doesn't have to be a long-term commitment. More like medium-term, assuming you find people who don't mind taking over for you. Here is an excellent guide on how to do so: https://blog.adafruit.com/2012/11/12/how-to-start-a-hackerspace/ If you're not willing to start a hackerspace (and that's totally understandable!), you might set your sights lower, and start a plain old interest group. Interest groups are what came before hackerspaces, and the biggest difference is that they don't have spaces. Most of them don't even dues. It's just a group of people of who meet up on a regular basis at various low-cost or free venues to socialize. And, of course, interest groups can end up morphing into spaces. That's about all I got. After that, the only think I can think of is to choose some other interest of yours which a more active community near you.
I'll try to investigate deeper - but so far, all hackerspaces I found are in the more rich areas of the city, and don't have programs like you mentioned. And as far as interests go - I'll also keep a lookout.