yeah I hear ya there, I wait till the reel trade in sale, and get a new setup every year. the real T3 is $429, the ballistic is $249
it has three programable settings, so you can have one for like a spinnerbait and another for a crank and one for a soft bait, pretty neat new thing for Diawa. I'll get one and see.
the frogs I usually buy like a five pack of horny toads but I go through so many of them, the cost of the spro and live target ones last a little longer.