I have been out of the hobby aspect for about a decade, and am just getting back into it. Starting to acquire more bits, paints, tools etc, but its a process, as im sure you know! Right now my entire scum fleet has been done with two brushes, and less than a dozen colors of paint.
Was exactly the same for me [only more like 30yrs] - my " bits, paints, tools" collection has grown almost as fast as my x-wing models one, but I'm still using some ancient brushes that are in good condition...
...some things seem much cheaper these days, but others are still a 'considered' purchase