First, I'm appalled that a breeder would sell a 2 week old hatchling that hasn't fed yet to someone who's never kept a ball python before, much less someone with no experience with getting a hatchling started. I really hope that you are able to get this baby feeding once you sort out the thermostat issue. It never ceases to amaze me what someone will do for a buck.
The dimmer or rheostat should be a temporary fix until you can invest in a quality thermostat, IMHO. You keep saying you don't want to spend more than $20, but I would argue that a $100 investment in a QUALITY thermostat is going to be only pennies a day when you figure the lifetime of your animal, and we owe it to our animals, when we take on the responsibility of their care to make the proper investments to insure that they remain healthy and un-injured (from burns for example) while in our care.
Edit - I measure temps on top of the substrate, where the snake is actually laying.
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