LOL--glad to see this topic brought out the very best in you folks!

Yes--we often justify our backpacking gear expenses by saying: look, other people go to expensive hotels and eat in fine restaurants for vacation. We spend maybe $10 on a wilderness permit, and eat a $7 freeze dried dinner? Of COURSE we can buy those new sleeping bags--we would spend that much in a night or two at a good hotel...

And so the collection of equipment grows...

But I also thought that this was interesting from a more basic standpoint. If you wanted to get into backpacking cheaply, you could certainly start with an old Kelty external frame from a thrift shop at $15, and add a synthetic 40 degree bag from Big 5 for under $50. And you would be well on your way to a kit that would get you started for not much money at all.