Being cheap is a character flaw. It's motivated by thinking that the mainstream businesses and retailers are all trying to cheat you. Most who think that are actually those kinds of people themselves, always looking to cheat someone else. If you think you're always being cheated, you think you are always paying too much. And when you think you are always paying too much you start looking for alternatives. Such people are easy marks for Turnigy and Zippy and other cheap Hobby King stuff. Yes, some of it is usable which can turn out to be smart shopping. But a lot of the cheap stuff simply doesn't work. And there is also the issue of doing business with companies that use sweatshop child labor to keep costs down, but I suppose that's a different conversation.
My dad was cheap, and wound up with a decently sized collection of junk as as result. He wasn't into modeling- more of an outdoorsy type. He didn't have a single good quality tool, never had a car than was reliable for more than a couple of years, all his guns and fishing gear were rusted up and unreliable, lawn mower had to go to the shop at least once a year, and was always having to fix things. My grandmother (mom's side) always said to decide what you need and go get a good one. She bought fewer things, but everything she did have worked. I'd much rather go her route and have 4-5 good airplanes that I can trust for years to come rather than a whole garage full of junk that I have trouble out of.