If you can live without absolutely top spec gear, crafting is the way to go (at the lower levels anyway). I've made somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty to fifty Flamberge's so far since the last reset, and I've only come across a handful of Flamberge's worth selling (generally 19.2-21 or so DPS). I got a ton in the 18-19 range though, so extrapolating, if you can live with gear that isn't the absolute best, the cost to craft it should be reasonable compared to trying to buy it in the auction house. Edit: I realized that I didn't explain this well. What I mean is that it shouldn't take very many attempts to get a weapon/armor/etc that is usable. You won't get the top stat stuff, but it should be good enough until later modes. Also, it shouldn't take any more resources than you should be generating just playing the game.
Then again, if the item turns out to be two bucks in the RMAH, it may be worth it to just buy it and get it over with.
Generally speaking, I plan to equip my character with whatever I find, and only go to the RMAH with funds made from selling other items in the RMAH. I really don't want to put any additional money into it.