OMG, the base Mini now with the 16 GB "fix" was a great deal even before.
I can warmly recommend a Thunderbolt 4 external drive case as a companion for media/photo/archival storage. 256 GB is usually enough for the OS, all the apps, and then some, but for extra storage needs yeah, go with 512 GB or if you need more, use external. The Apple tax on internal drive storage quickly gets cost inefficient and ruins the value of this beast.