Good to hear. (EDIT: I also second what faithless says but a pistol is just so kickass looking to have, but yes you should also focus on gear that you actually need first than dead weight that just costs a lot to have on you).
As for the WA that I was mentioning, AFAIK they're done in limited runs usually so that adds to the rarity and therefore price of what they'll cost so just for reference lets look at one selling overseas:
The
WA SVI 4.3 "Hi-Capa"
Cost $380 USD overseas for a VERY NICE pistol. To get that in Canada an average markup is somewhere between 1.5-2X the overseas list price. So $570-760 is somewhere you'd be looking at for one of those. Now to worry about mags. Pistol mags aren't restricted so you can buy them yourself however they don't come cheap either. At $50 USD each for a pistol mag (average overseas) you don't want to lose them on the field plus shipping/brokerage etc. you could be looking at $55-60 each mag even with the strong Canadian dollar.
So easily for a WA plus 2 or 3 mags you're looking at $750+.... Now for me that's a bit too rich for my blood and even not buying TV for a year wouldn't be enough (assuming average TV subscription is $45/mo = $540/yr).
With the TM however they're nice solid built guns and more in line to the budget of a person like me.
Average price of a TM Hi-Capa (4.3 or 5.1) in the classifieds (new) is about $300 for the gun and mag, used might go for $275 or more depending on what's included how it's been taken care of, upgrades, etc. So for the Hi-Capa mags are more in line with an average of $25-30 USD each (overseas) and since they're not restricted and the Canadian dollar is good you can approximate an average of $35 each landed in Canada (plus you can find them used in the classifieds since they're so commonplace). So gun plus 3 mags you could be looking at $425-ish which a year without TV will get you.
PS: Good to hear about the compromises and saving that you go through to get things, shows a lot of discipline for financial matters which is a good thing since airsoft will suck your wallet dry if you let it get out of control (especially in Canada with the situation of hard to get guns that aren't necessarily kosher for crossing the border).
NOTE: This is just one example that I pulled, there are some WA pistols that sell for less but they're still pretty expensive compared to a TM. Consider WA the "exotic sportscar" of pistols that cost a lot and are really nice, while the TM is just a "regular sportscar" that still cost a lot but less and are still nice but cheaper to get (ie. BMW 5 vs Lambo Murcielago).