Welcome to the world of GAS...

I've learned to accept this philosophy; "Good Stuff Ain't Cheap, and Cheap Stuff Ain't Always Good."

You are better off having a few high quality pieces as opposed to a bunch of cheap gear.

GOOD quality Mic's are an investment. Good quality mic pre's are as well.

I recently invested in a matched pair of Peluso P47's. They are amazing mic's for the money. They are probably not in your budget, from the sounds of it, but you never know. I would encourage you to maybe look at something like the Peluso P12 or another mic of that quality.

AKG 414's are a good all around mic, but not a "Go To" mic. 421's are always nice to have around for drums as well. If you ever get hooked on ribbon mics, you'll ultimately want an RCA 44BX or an RCA 77. Beyer ribbons and Royer ribbons are good investments as well. Of course the U87 is a staple in most studios as well. Beta 91's are a great kick drum mic and well worth considering.

If you don't have a good DI, I would recommend the A-Designs REDDI... KILLER DI for bass and keyboards.

As far as pre's go, you can never go wrong with API, Averill, Chandler, A-Designs, Cranesong or D W Fearn.

Not knowing what plug-in's you have, you might want to look at the Waves or the McDSP bundles.

Again, one or two quality items over cheap stuff gets you further down the road to better recording and mixing IMHO.

Things you can get that are worth more than they cost:
Music Production Tool Kit $500 (great great verb and a ton of other cool things)
Langevin Dual Vocal Combo $1700 (way cool opto compressor, stereo pre and high and lo shelving eq....sounds creamy and neve-y, and even had real VU's....)
AT 4047 $500 (this mic will never let you down, sounds great on almost everything...very good all around)
Heil PR 40 $325 (another all around mic. good for kick, cabs and vocals)

Good solid speaker stands.....sand filled and away from the walls.

Room treatment.

Real Good Chair!!!!

Happy shopping.

Room treatment
Pair of good SDC mic
Pair of better micpre