I have an NRS Extreme (faux Gor-Tex), it's my second one. (latex gaskets, integrated booties, relief zip).
Much less expensive than a Gor-Tex Kokatat especially if you buy during their annual (semi-annual?) sale ($500 last Fall/Black Friday sale). I only use it during the Spring and occasionally during the Summer if I'm running Class III+ in cold water.
I also find the prices painful (and they have gone up a lot in the past few years), I rationalize it by thinking of it in a "cost per day" basis, $500 suit, 200 days of usage, $2.50 per day.
Choices......(not considering the suit might totally save your life)........
$2.50/day to stay dry and warm and be confident enough to push my limits and expand the paddling season.
$0.00/day to be cold/wet, have to portage bigger rapids because of a fear of a dump and the potential consequences and stick with flat water for Spring trips.
I'm paying $10/day for a meal in a bag, $2/day for my tent, $2/day for a chocolate bar etc, makes the $2.50/day for a drysuit pretty reasonable value.
If you take care of the suit, replace the gaskets every 5 years or so, it could last a long time. My first suit which I treated VERY badly lasted for about 5 years, the second one I've had for 9 years, replaced the gaskets after 8 years and I expect the suit will be viable for another 5+ years.