so, your anti lift lawsoncl?
i know this is oem tech, but live a little...
Can't really say I'm anti-lift as I do have a 5.5" lifted MJ.
Imho, the best thing is to figure out what your needs are and plan an upgrade path that fits those needs and budget. If you just want a lift and bigger tires because it looks nice, then quality of tires and flexibility aren't really important, A budget boost and cheap A/Ts are a good way to go. Rock crawling obviously demands much more articulation than mild trail running where the main concern might be high-centering. Running mud doesn't need height so much as clearance to fit big mudding tires. If you really want to end up with 4.5" of lift and 33s, maybe holding off and doing it all at once is better than doing it in smaller steps.
In my case, I put a lot of thought into my needs. I run mostly fireroads and the dirtbike trails. My first upgrades were recovery points, straps, chain, and a come-along. I already had a winch from the YJ I sold. I don't have a needs for lots of articulation, but being a long wheel base, high centering and needing bigger tires were my issues. It actually was cheaper for me to go straight to 5.5" since I just went spring-over in the rear and bought the front half of a rough country XJ lift kit. Its a bit stiff, but that works well as my daily driver and handles my offroad needs/desires. I also planned and swapped in a set junkyard 4.11 axles at the same time. The price was well within my budget and was accomplished over about 4 days.
On my YJ, I just wanted to clear bigger tires and sit a little higher. A 1.5" body lift worked nicely to clear 31s. It was a short enough wheel base that high centering wasn't that much of an issue. The lunchbox locker really helped running in deeper snow, although if you got too happy with the go pedal I'd dig all 4 tires in and end up sitting on the frame.
So, maybe I don't have an answer of even too much helpful advice here?