For as long as I've been in this hobby, it was always understood that dealers made the biggest gains from markup on cables and ancillaries. One need not spend a fortune on cables to get great results. Careful trial and error will get you there and rarely does one hit the nail on the head on the first try.
The longer you're in this hobby, the more you're going to spend on cabling as you carefully and judiciously upgrade. Add up all you've spent over time and it'll add up to more than what you've currently settled on. Throw out the learning curve and just get comfortable with that fact. Stop with the sour grapes routines.
Keep your cables in good shape and sell them for a loss when you upgrade if you must but keep in mind the old saw that you can pay me now, or pay me later, with the later payment being the dearest.
Also, if possible, keep the older, better performing cables around for comparisons sake when you get new gear. It's very helpful to go back and reaffirm what you think you know about your current cables. Doing this also helps to narrow down what works best for you.
All the best,
Nonoise