I hear you. I havent had a single drop since i15. I got 2 before that. I just went 0 to 300+ rep and not a drop yet. I know they are rare, but when you are in zone and a few others get one or 2 and you have been on every night for a month and dont get one it makes you more frustrated.
As for buying IO's, I dont farm, my VG/SG doesnt farm, and is really hard to earn enough money for one really rare IO much less a set. I dont flip the market either so I know there are way I can earn money, I just rather spend my time playing the game and pvp at night when my friends log off.
I think the most money one of my toons has is about 250mil and that was because of a few purple drops I didnt need. 250 still wont buy me much. You greedy jerks! :P