Price doesn’t always equal power, but some big pieces are expensive.
First of all, you should look at the cheapest value/printing for a card to really see what the “value” of your deck is. Spending on an older foil card can be vastly more expensive than the reprinted, non-foil version.
Second, it kinda depends on what the money is being spent on. I dropped over $100 the other month just adding a fetchland and a few shocks into a 3-color deck. Spending money on a manabase, or on the staples that hold a deck together, isn’t the same as spending on the big combo pieces that do uniquely powerful things.
As a rule of thumb, I know the price of my deck, but I don’t use it as a thermometer for how high-powered it is. I do use it as an indication of how invested I am in it, since the more I want it to perform, the more money I’ll throw into it.
If price point is an issue with your pod, consider having your powerful pet decks and whatnot, but also setting up a budget deck where the total value of the deck (once again, using cheapest printings) must be below a price point. I’ve seen interesting budget formats where each card must be sub-$1, or Pauper EDH, or where the total value of the deck must be below $25, or $50, or $100. Discussion is the best thing about playing Commander, a social format. Figure out what makes everyone have a good time and roll with that.