if you raid hardcore, sure you'll have over a thousand gold, but i frequently dip below that even on my main toon. I know that many people consider consumables and enchants and gems obligatory before you raid, but i've seen a lot of casual raids and casual raiding guilds where people aren't prepared, and don't have the money to spend on those. they usually don't get very far in raiding, and are the people running heroic ICC now, and still failing, but they apparently still have fun. my first time playing, back in BC, i got to level 20 before i had more than one gold piece. when I got to 60, which took months back then, i think i had around 200 gold, and no epic ground mount yet. I was a lock so I spent all my money on that mount quest and eventually got it, but not until I was at level 68. money is a lot easier to make nowadays, but if you don't play the AH while leveling, its conceivable that you have to buy all your trianing and mount skills, and probably don't have a lot of money left over for yourself.