Thanks for the kind words, piratedzeus! To be fair.... A lot of my projects have been slowly built over time, with parts acquired here and there as I find them. A lot of little cash hits don't hurt quite as badly as one big hit all at once. Just requires a little patience, as sometimes the begining of the project simply looks like nothing more than a pile of parts, or worse- Just a single part!
Anyways... If you're looking to build a project, budget for both money AND time! Set some acceptable price ranges/figures for what you feel comfortable spending per part, and keep an eye out for those items (buying what meets your criteria at that given time). Keep focus on your goal, and you'll find yourself at the end of it; maybe sooner, maybe later