Wolves have sold Max Kilman to West Ham for £40m and Pedro Neto to Chelsea in a club record deal worth £54m this summer.
In the transfer window so far they have invested modestly by signing winger Rodrigo Gomes, right-back Pedro Lima and Norway striker Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Tommy Doyle’s loan from Manchester City last season has also become a permanent move, with Wolves paying £4.3m for the midfielder.
Wolves remain in the market for a defender and a winger as replacements for Kilman and Neto, but O’Neil sounded a note of caution over their ability to pay big fees.
“I hope the other clubs aren’t treating us as super rich and charging what they want because it’s not what we are,” he said.
“We are working really hard on doing something which we think will help us. The budget doesn’t seem too different to last season. The club is still not in a place where it’s able to go and free spend on things.
“Would I love to say that centre-forward over there looks fantastic, he’s £55m and let’s get him in? Of course, but what we’re doing is something very different and we’re trying our best to maximise it.
“It makes the reward at the end when you are successful much sweeter, when you have to work this hard for stuff.”
O’Neil has signed a new four-year deal since Wolves finished 14th in the Premier League last season and, ahead of Saturday’s trip to Arsenal, he wants to make progress.
He said: “My job is to align with the club’s ambitions. I’m employed to maximise what we can do with what we’re given. I want us to have a clear focus around ourselves.”
