I'm in the "get wet but stay warm" school. I don't spend much on rain gear, but I pay close attention to the layers under it. Sometimes that means putting on wet clothing in the morning if you're tenting, about two minutes of shock until you warm up.
Some days are just "Type II fun."
I commuted many years in Seattle, year round. Not huge volumes of rain, mainly mist and damp. The big thunderstorms where I grew up in the Midwest are pretty awesome sometimes. I've crossed some flooded side roads, and some concrete fords in the Northwest, ferried the touring bike and packs separately a few times, but never tried to cycle through a flash flood. That's not even Type II fun.