Another way to approach any sort of upgrade is to ask yourself "what is the weakest part of my chain from mic to monitors/room?"
 
Splashing out 2 or 3 thousand on monitors is a complete waste if your room isn't up to scratch.
 
Ditto with microphones and pre's.
 
You'll find it much more manageable to upgrade incrementally (especially on the pocket!), swapping out bits of kit here & there as you climb up the quality path.

FWIW, Waves Linear Multiband Compressor is just $29 (~£18) for the next few hours. I'm having a punt, just need to learn to use them. I'm pretty comfortable with the theory, but putting it in to practice will be interesting.
 
jdf