Ouch...a bit of a sore subject for me.
I have purchased all the PA and lighting for our band. Not that I'm rich or anything (supermarket career for God's sake!) but the other 3 in my band are a bit financially irresponsible. So for our band to proceed, I realized we needed these things.
I do not ask for an extra cut only because that will cause a rift in the band. I realize that playing a couple gigs a month is more for fun than anything else for me. These guys rely on that gig money to supplement their income and pay their bills. Yeah, deep down I know that they're "getting off easy" but I'm OK with it on the surface. Hopefully we don't have a dispute one day and I blow up about it, but for now I'm OK providing these things for the band. My wife says I'm VERY unselfish.
I've purchased 5 speakers (2 mains/3 monitors), 3 SM 58's, all cables, extension cords, surge protectors, basic lighting rig consisting of colorstrips, pars, pinspots, and t-bars....not to mention containers to transport it all.
But there's no way in hell I'm buying them strings, cords, amps, etc...