With the recent winter power outages in Texas, there's a lot of interest in home generator setups. This is how I run my house using a $900 generator and a simple mechanical interlock.
All in, this setup cost me less than $1200. And it lets me run every 120 volt circuit in my house. If I ever get a bigger generator, I can even run my 240 volt equipment, including my air conditioner.

The generator is a Westinghouse iGen 4500, it's available in lots of places.
The inlet box and interlock are from interlockkit.com
The male plug for the inlet box is a Marinco CS6364N
I have no affiliations with any of these companies.