When I'm riding my cargo bike with my kids, people stop me to ask questions about it. Among others, the most common question is "how much was it?" "$2400." "That's so expensive! I could never afford that!" I don't say anything, but I see the car they own and think how much more their car costs and gas costs and maintenance costs and depreciation and insurance and wonder how they can say my bike is too expensive with a straight face. You're driving last years model Escalade, you can afford a bike.
I have a Craighton Oma step through Achielle with one kids seat and can take some groceries on it. So yeah, my bikes are expensive, but they're my workhorse/main form of transportation. I'm not big into cycling or bikes, but I have a budget and do what makes sense for my budget. I just potter along at my own speed, kids in tow a lot of the time. My bikes don't have to be fast, but I like them pretty and strong.
I've never had a shopping habit. Usually my version of shopping is doing a lot of research online to find what I want. Then I use websites like keep.com and set up an alert for when it gets to the price I'm willing to pay. When the price I want is available, I get an email to alert me and I buy it.