I would like 99 of these, and 99 of those, and 99 tents to pitch at the hottie.

Yeah, I guess it depends on the difficulty of the RPG in question. Generally, I don't max out my items though. I'll perhaps buy a few spare healing or MP restoration items in case my healer in the party runs out of MP, but otherwise, I usually rely on magic to heal members of the party. Also, running to the nearest town for an Inn is usually more ideal for me than using MP restoration items or healing items. I tend to use normal items as a last resort, really.
Obviously, if there's no healer in the party (this happens in the beginning of some RPGs), I'll use items for healing.

Weapon and armor shops, however, get most of my gold. If there's a new weapon or armor that I can afford, I'll probably buy it. I usually prioritize weapons over armor, but sometimes I may get armor first due to the low defense attributes of some characters.

Also, I have an odd addiction to gold/gil/zeny/munny/$/watev. Essentially, it makes me feel better knowing that I have surplus cash. I'd definitely rather have extra money than a surplus of items. This way, I know I can buy whatever the next best equipment is. If I squander the money on items that I wouldn't even use, then I'd later feel bad about not being able to buy the best equipment for my characters.

Jam it back in, in the dark.