Oh no, don't spend all your money on Aspen! It's great but it's super spendy and the town is not so much fun if you're more of a dirtbag boarder. You can have so much fun more cheaply in Colorado (and in other western states).
Question 1 - do you have a pass? If you have an Epic/Ikon/Mountain Collective pass then that may determine where you want to head. I'm guessing from your post that you don't. Take a look at those and see if they will equal cheaper skiing for you depending on where you go.
Question 2 - Are you dead set on Colorado? Totally cool if you are but some alternatives that are big mountain western snowboarding might be cheaper. As an example, if you have one of the passes, staying in SLC and going to some of the half-dozen resorts within an hour. But sounds like you're pretty set on Colorado.
Here's my (based on experience) suggestion for boarding on the cheap-ish without a pass if you want to hit up Colorado to get a taste of western conditions. Fly into Albuquerque. Drive 3.5-4 hours north to Wolf Creek. It's a fabulous local's pro secret ski area. Not a resort. Window tix are usually around $50-60 and half-days even cheaper. You can stay in nearby Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Wolf Creek gets the earliest and most snow of any resort in Colorado. It's one of my all-time favorites, won't break the bank, and will get you in the powder. If you want some variety, there's Purgatory, Telluride, Taos, Monarch, Crested Butte all within striking distance.
Avoid flying into Denver, avoid sitting in traffic on I-70, avoid the Vail resorts.