I strongly advise you to level your gatherers as well. It saves you a ton of money if you are able to get your own materials. Plus, every piece of gear you spiritbond, convert and save the materia. You will need them later to meld yourself.

Also, don't forget that you can repair your own gear with Dark Matter. You can even overrepair it to 190ish% condition. I kept forgetting that lol. Saves a bit of a gil too