Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This resulted in engineers that would purchase their own equipment and bringing it to work to use because they couldn't wait a month for a $200 piece of equipment. That's a mistake. You should never pay other people's costs. If the company wants to put itself in a position where work is delayed by a month for the sake of $200 then that is the company's cost to pay.
If $200 is the difference between being blamed for a late release, and being praised for doing a good job, I'll pay the $200.. and work to make that cash up in spades by negotiating it back from the company in the form of pay and position increases. You're correct that the company should pay, but not everyone is willing to martyr their career over petty cash. Choose your battles, as they say.
By paying the $200 you've already lost the negotiation. The work you should have done is to demand the resources to do the job the company claims it wants done.