If you’re a keen or serious photographer you will be all to familiar with the mental struggle surrounding what the title suggests. You’ve got that itch, you know the one that can only be scratched with the purchase of a new piece of photography equipment. Every photographer has a wish list of the gear they’d love to own and you’re aware of the reality, that its exactly that, a wish list. However a time comes where you find yourself in a position to tick a few pieces off the list and there en-lies the struggle, what do you get??
Now a lot of people will tell you it doesn’t matter what you get, an upgrade is an upgrade, but is it? You should be aware that good gear does not make for a good photographer or even good photographs. If you’re tempted to upgrade to a newer body because its the latest release, but it’ll mean you still have to use you’re older kit lenses I’d probably be more inclined to nudge you towards upgrading your glass as it’d yield more immediate results. I remember the first new lens I bought  after getting my first DSLR and how i felt when i started shooting with it. It was a glorious 50mm f1.8 prime lens and oh my when you snap that first portrait at f1.8 and you get your first blast of bokeh, the feeling is borderline divine, however shuffle forward a few years and to my latest upgrade which was a new body and I found the feeling of gratification comes at a much slower rate, you have to spend time engrossed in the manual discovering all the new buttons and the tricks its capable of.
Both of these choices are fairly even in forms of upgrading, they both offer benefits but some only under certain conditions, discovering your new body handles high ISO in low light exceptionally well might take some to find out where as shooting a natural light portrait with a new prime lens will be much more of a quicker itch scratcher. My advice has always been that you should buy what you can afford, if your stuck between a body and glass, buy what you can afford. As good as some pieces of kit are, you can still shoot absolutely jaw dropping images on very basic beginner kits (DigitalRev do a good piece about Pro photographers using cheap cameras) and they are a great example for honing your skills as a photographer rather than relying on gear.