I was talking with someone recently who has a decent set of tech gear and he was saying it had hardly gotten wet. He kept moaning about lack of buddies, having to drive more than an hour to get to dive sites, being married now (no kids). I told him to quit with the excuses. There are plenty of ways around it. You have to make it a priority. I know several younger divers who work second jobs in the winter to be able to afford diving.
I think a lot of divers have gotten OW/AOW with cheapo classes. They rent gear. They have little conception of what new recreational gear costs, let alone tech gear. So if you’re used to cheapo recreational classes, no wonder there’s sticker shock when they’re looking into tech classes.
If you want to afford it, you’ll make the sacrifices in order to do so. Like taking lunch to work every day and making tea or coffee at home in the morning rather than swinging by McD’s. People see the custom DUI drysuit, good regs, and multiple sets of tanks, and think I’m rolling in dough. I make a good salary, but I’m also damned frugal outside of my diving. Diving either has priority or it doesn’t.