Ok, maybe I just missed somthing (or a lot of somethings), but is it even possible to buy all the upgrades before the final mission? I missed out on Legions sniper rifle because I didn't have enough Platinum; a mineral exchange would have been awesome I had +100K Irridium and Palladium and was just to burnt out on mining to get more. I know that was mainly my fault, but the real problem was that I ran out of credits. 
 
I had everything but a biotic damage upgrade, a pistol damage upgrade, a bypass upgrade and a medi-gel capacity upgrade. I did every side mission and was still ~ 175K short before the collector attack.  
 
Is there a way to more consistantly make money or did I just blow too much and the gift shops?

Starting with a character from ME1 or a new game plus gives you more minerals and money to start with. Other than that, I don't think you need absolutely every last upgrade (especially not the cosmetic surgery upgrade) to get everyone out alive.

i had an me1 brought over and I bought everything. The trick is to get the discount wherever possible.

@Computerplayer1:
I brought over an ME1 player too and got what I thought were all the discounts, maybe missed some. that and I clearly bought too many model ships and frekking fish that I never fed

A fresh, non-imported character will not have the scratch to buy every upgrade.
 
I wouldn't call that a broken economy, though. Don't know what you were thinking there.

I am just thinking that if there is too much or too little currency in an economy then it does not work. Some examples of this are Fable 2, where if you just work long enought to make some serious property investments then it is only a matter of time before you have many times more money than can possibly be spent in the game; and ME 2, where you can gather every credit available and not be able to buy everything in the game. The game itself still works fine; I love the thing, but the economy is not-optimal

I think Bioware was trying to fix the 999999999Credits issue from ME1 - where in after a few side quests and mineral deposits you've maxed out  your cash. Much like Dragon Age they try to make Money matter in ME2 - don't just buy up everything blindly or you may find yourself unable to purchase an essential upgrade. Bioware has seemingly designed the game from the ground up so you HAVE to play it twice with a character to max out (the exp, the upgrades, the money etc) unless you import a Maxed out ME1 toon - even then you may be lacking some of the upgrades.

I just get a kick out of the fact that Cerberus can afford to bring me back from the dead, build a brand stinkin' new Normandy, and yet I've still got to scrounge around for cash to buy upgrades for my guns. :/ 
 
I mean, I understand the point of purchasing upgrades, but with such deep pockets, it seems strange that Cerberus won't pony up for widely available biotics upgrade. They could have at least tried to offer an in-story justification for this. I would have much rather all the upgrades be *found* rather than purchased, and left the purchasing for collectibles, special armor upgrades and perhaps some real gambling side games. :)

Always get a discount, you get more money if you imprt from ME1, and you get even more if you're an ME1 import on a second playthrough. Also, some of the upgrades you can buy can be researched so because there is much more minerals than credits in the game, mine first, then buy everything. I managed to get every single upgrade this way. Mind you, it was on a second playthrough though because they gave me an extra 200,000 credits (maybe 300,000 I can't remember) 
 
@haggis said:

" I just get a kick out of the fact that Cerberus can afford to bring me back from the dead, build a brand stinkin' new Normandy, and yet I've still got to scrounge around for cash to buy upgrades for my guns. :/   I mean, I understand the point of purchasing upgrades, but with such deep pockets, it seems strange that Cerberus won't pony up for widely available biotics upgrade. They could have at least tried to offer an in-story justification for this. I would have much rather all the upgrades be *found* rather than purchased, and left the purchasing for collectibles, special armor upgrades and perhaps some real gambling side games. :) "

carrying over a "Rich" ME1 toon and starting a second playthrough(or third, whichever gives you the bonus cash at the start) allows you to buy every upgrade. I dont know why you were buying the bypass upgrades as doubling the time you get to hack stuff seems a huge waste
 
EDIT: Guess i should note that you need tto do pretty much every quest to have enough credits when starting a game with the 2 bonuses to credits

"I just get a kick out of the fact that Cerberus can afford to bring me back from the dead, build a brand stinkin' new Normandy, and yet I've still got to scrounge around for cash to buy upgrades for my guns. :/   I mean, I understand the point of purchasing upgrades, but with such deep pockets, it seems strange that Cerberus won't pony up for widely available biotics upgrade. They could have at least tried to offer an in-story justification for this. I would have much rather all the upgrades be *found* rather than purchased, and left the purchasing for collectibles, special armor upgrades and perhaps some real gambling side games. :) "