A lot of work goes into a first order TK, not like an original trilogy TK where you just and glue pieces together, FOTK has to be trimmed, prepped, filled, sanded, primed and painted, all this adds to the work load. I'd suggest $1000 is pretty cheap to get a kit fully wearable.
Unfortunately with any hobby there are costs involved and the costume is the biggest part of this hobby, you do save on membership fees though, as there aren't any