hahaha well im a "DINK". The other half spends his money on his toys, so being allowed to purchase a new scope or camera or accessories is not too hard to convince
Basically we just save our own money and spend it on our own toys. works for us.
as for how i found a scope.. well i purchased my celestron 5" through the Trading post around 2 to 2.5 years ago. I was able to get it for less then half price of what they cost new at the time. trading post is available online.
Other sites I have looked at are geckooptical.com, ebay, and of course Ice-in-space