I have aquired stuff over the years. The most money I have spent was my radio and a couple of high end gas engines. Other stuff was traded for or given to me then rebuilt. Most of my planes have been built from plans so they were very cheap to build. I almost never need to buy anything these days. I have friends with a lot of money and they aren't afraid to spend it and think nothing of it. The hobby can be expensive but it doesn't need to be. I tell new people to spend the money on a good radio then start looking for deals. The radio can be with you for decades so it's money well spent.
I used to compete in shooting events and spent my time bird hunting. That's a high dollar sport but I was able to work around that too over the decades. Once I was set up and knew what I was doing it cost me almost nothing.
No mater what sport/hobby it is you can have high end equipment without spending big money. It's more about how you go about things.