Another way to pay for things and spend less money at the same time, is by using your own time and skills (what they call "sweat equity" in real estate) and cheap (relatively) raw materials.
In other words, be a model railroader, not just a buyer of shiny choo-choos. Learn how to actually do some things, like Americans used to do all the time and as second nature - the feeling of independence is nice, too. ("Repair department? We don't need no stinkin' repair department!") Pride is part of it too: "I fixed/built that". It's not magic or only "talent" - it's just keeping at it and learning from your mistakes.
Secondly, as mentioned above, stay away from new items; the world, as we know, is full of now lower-priced scale items at 1/3 of the catalogue prices. (This does no good for Lionel, MTH and the rest, unfortunately, a fact that can come back to bite us, per future product. So give them a little business...especially parts!)
