Having said that, there's a lot of money out there for teachers in the form of grants.
My favorite website is Donorschoose.org. I first heard about Donorschoose from an instructor in our teaching credential program. He called it "eBay for teachers." Well, that's kind of close. It's more like couch potato philanthropy. Teachers post projects online for review (okay, that part is like eBay). Then donors like you and me select the projects to fund. Voila! Free stuff for teachers.
Through Donorschoose.org, I have added several laptops, hundreds of books, and dozens of musical instruments to my classroom. To be eligible, you must teach in a public school. You must have direct contact with students, so administrators can't apply. But if you need anything--pencils, paper, digital cameras, you name it--this is the place to go. Grant proposals can be submitted any time and are online for 5 months or until they are funded.
If you're in California, try applying for the FEDCO Teacher Grants. These are especially good for field trips. They administer the grants once a year, and grants need to be tied to core curriculum standards. Usually the grants are due in late September and checks are sent to the teacher some time in February.
Another California grant is the Richard Riordan Recreational Reading Mini-Grant. These grants pay for up to $1,000 in library books for your classroom. In 2009, grants were due at the end of November.
Kathy Shrock's Guide for Educators provides lots of helpful links for the grant-writing process.
It's hard to teach without spending your own money, but at least there are ways to relieve the burden. Good luck!
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