Can I use my phone (not iPhone!) as Hot Spot for iPad Mini?

I don't know if I should shell out $430 for iPad MIni Cellular Enabled or just get iPad Mini Wi-Fi for $300 and use my phone's (which isn't an iPhone) Internet connection as a Hot Spot.

Any advice or thoughts? Is it doable?

Of course you can…
Because when you make hotspot from mobile then your mobile just act as router or modem.
So not only ipad but any device can conect to your hotspot which has Wi-Fi…
Condition is that your phone must act as Wi-Fi hotspot…

Hope this helps!