SAVAGEJIM

Most of us who do buy the $150 or even $200 items dont have much cash either. I guarantee that most of us are in the very same boat you are. But we overcome this by saving up instead of giving in to temptation and buying the cheaper now.
So not having much money in most cases can be overcome. I knew a guy who saved for nearly 2 years so he can buy a 5B. He was young at the time, and his parents made him work and save for his RC. I remember he saved up about $600 in one summer by getting a job at a Burgerking or Wendys (I cannot remember which) and also doing odd jobs during the weekends such as mowing lawns, washing neighbors' cars, etc. (He was kicking himself in the ass hard because he realized he could have saved up money much more quickly rather than relying on his parent's allowances.)

And as with any RC, he also wanted to upgrade it after running it for a couple of months. So, again, he went to saving up. At the time Integy didnt have upgrades for 5B RCs because they were out less than a couple of years. So whatever was out at the time was only the industry grade hop-ups and not the cheaper alternatives. He saved up for those.

I know the feeling: The feeling that you cant afford the better stuff because its more expensive. For example, I want a Elcon Cleon racing buggy, but that costs like $3000 USD to buy the kit. But I am not letting that stop me, I decided last year that I was going to save up for one. And so far, I am about halfway there.
My point is it can be done.