I would also say that you can always look to buy used gear...camera bodies depreciate in value rather quickly and become great values. As usual, quality will typically come at a price. I included a Canon forum link at the bottom with a "marketplace" section that is very reliable (forget Ebay! lol). I have bought a lot of gear over the last 6 years from people selling stuff and saved a ton of money in the process. Plus, you can research and ask questions from some very knowledgeable people at the same set of forums:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=14

Hope this helps!