My first match ever I showed up with a stock G19 and wwb...and was most accurate shooter for the night, shooting against many incredibly skilled shooters. You don't have to have alot of fancy equipment to shoot something like IDPA--in fact, they generally won't allow it. And I have always shot cheap WWB in my matches... So whatever the match costs, and some wwb and a cheap gun as often as you can afford it and you are set, at least for IDPA. Then you have to decide why you are there and what you want to accomplish...and consequently how much time and money you want to spend in the future. There will always be the temptation to go big and buy expensive equipment and spend lots of time at the range.... But you don't have to do that if you set other goals for yourself and stick with them until you come to a new season in life.