When Ral Partha 25mm miniatures were $1 USD to $3 USD each, the minimum wage was $2.90 USD, and I was on top of the world when I got a summer job that paid $4 USD per hour (work inside, no heavy lifting!).
So hell yeah I bought miniatures that summer.
Now I probably don't need to buy another miniature to run any game that I would want to run. I have a moderate lead and plastic mountain waiting to be painted and organized into units (or assigned to be PCs or NPCs for rpgs).
Craigslist's "free" section provided quite a few items over the years. I bought discontinued items at great prices at game shop sales, many in the 1990s and 2000s at 1970s-80s prices. Convention flea markets have provided some good scores.
Nearly all of my science fiction vehicles and buildings were free or cheap in terms of cash outlay, but required time to kitbash/trashbash. I've never paid retail for terrain, except for some grassy flock.
I mostly use rules from the 1980s and 1990s. After this much time, I am extremely familiar with them, and can run a game and teach the rules easily. As you might expect, I am less interested in new-fangled complex rules systems.
I buy hobby paints in bottles, and artist's brushes, at retail as needed. I never skimp on paint or brushes. Spray paint cans I try to buy on sale, and I have found a few interesting things at yard sales, but I often pay retail for them as well.
paints some fast cats.
