From what I'm reading online it looks like in an emergency situation use is allowed even if you don't have your Ham license. Is this true? I'd love to get my license and may do so eventually but just don't have the time currently.
Buying a radio and not getting properly licensed because you "just don't have the time" isn't a valid justification and it's certainly not justification for using it in an emergency. Seriously. If you think you need a amateur radio, get licensed. It is not hard at all. If you have time to build a bug out bag, then you have time to learn how to properly use the equipment.
Transmitting without a license likely isn't going to get you busted, but I can tell you that amateurs are a pretty stuck up lot and often won't talk to unlicensed users showing up on the amateur radio bands.
If you are thinking of using the radio to transmit on public safety frequencies, stop. That is not the right way to do things.
In a true emergency, getting help via hobby radio bands is really hit and miss. I know, I've tried, and as a properly licensed amateur, I would never rely on amateur radio in an emergency. There are correct tools for the job, and this isn't it. Relying on hobbyists to bail your butt out of a disaster is really putting a lot of faith in complete strangers that have zero responsibility to be there listening to the radio.
My second question is about gear. What would someone recommend as a cheap solution for what I'm looking for?
Define cheap. Define what your expected scenario is. Define what your expectations are.
For emergency communications, buying a cheap two way portable radio isn't your best bet. For true emergencies, there is better gear out there that provides a much higher likelihood of reaching someone that can actually help you.
As others have said, about the worst thing you can do is have a two way radio and wait for an emergency to figure out how to properly use it. Without a license, you are not going to be able to properly learn how to use the radio. We go through this at work, and we have periodic drills with staff that require them to find their radio, turn it on, switch to the correct talk group and check in with our EOC. Every single one of them will refuse training since it's "just a walkie talkie, how hard can it be", yet when it comes to the drills, they fail to figure it out. Now our EOC runs mandatory training sessions for those in leadership roles and those with any sort of emergency response duties. I do the training, and no matter how much I stand up there and talk, it relies on them having hands on the radio and practicing every day.
Don't fall into the assumption that buying a bunch of emergency gear makes you prepared, you actually need to know how to use it all in a high stress situation. The emergency isn't going to stop while you sit down to read the manual. Same goes for your first aid supplies. Simply buying a first aid kit does nothing, you have to know what to do with the stuff.
