look at it this way. a kit gives you 100+ hours of building entertainment while an arf gives you 5-15 (i've never gotten more than 10 out of any arf). even if the kit cost 500 dollars and the arf was 100 dollars thats only five dollars an hour for entertainment with the kit, verses like 7-20 dollars an hour with an ARF. I doubt where you live they are that expensive. Most kits are in the 100 dollar range. your looking at abou 1-2 dollars an hour for entertainment. I would go broke if all i built was ARF's because i have to sit down to build at least once a week. In the winter it's even worse. It's like 5 nights a week. I probably get 3 kits done in the winter. The bottom line is buy a kit, take your time, enjoy it, and even if that kit was a thousand dollars it will be worth every penny. Now i don't compleatly hate arf's. I think they are great for getting into the hobby. Beofre you had to have a gradfather or dad or friend who knew how to build to get into it. Now with the park flyer RTF and trainer ARF's any one can fly. My first plane was an ARF (Hangar 9 easy fly 40) and i love it. I also did not own all the tools you needed to build a kit nor was i willing to go out and buy them all at once. An arf or RTF is a great way to get your feet wet into the hobby. The logic behind the kit vs the arf does seem weird. I mean if you add up all the time it take a person to assemble a kit plus the covering and hardware costs you think a kit would cost one tenth of what an ARF costs. The bottom line is, you have to think of it as entertainment. I realalize this is an expensive hobby but if you don't have some disposiable income it's not the right hobby for you.
just my two cents
-Matt