Depends what kind of quilts you make. I do very little piecing & lots of appliqué. I'd rather live without a rotary cutter than without my shears & embroidery scissors. You certainly can make lovely quilts without scissors. Any quilts made before the 1970's were made with scissors. It's not as fast & can be slightly less precise, but it's definitely do-able. You can make templates out of cereal boxes to help maintain consistent, accurate piecing. If you mostly do piecing, I'd go with the rotary cutter for sure. It's very thin & doesn't squeeze the fabric like scissors do.

Be careful with precuts. Quality precuts are a great deal, but there are dreadful ones too. My DD picked up two rolls of a cute fabric that was cut so poorly I almost pulled my hair out! Uneven between strips and even on the same strip, bumps in the middle, etc. I have never had a problem with Moda precuts, and people say the same about Missour Star and Connecting Threads. They can save a lot of work though!Eta: autocorrect errors!

I rely on my rotary cutter more so than regular scissors. I even picked up the picking blade for when I work on apparel patterns. I like the pinking edge on my clothes though I eventually serge the seams down the road.

Buy and use BOTH. I use my rotary cutter to cut any project using fabric not just quilting.

I also quilted long before hearing about rotary cutters and mats. Cutting with scissors was a bummer. With machine quilting and rotary cutters all is much faster and more accurate. Learning to use a rotary cutter was a bit hard, I use to cut the edge of ruler but now am very adapt at it.
I got my first cutter and mat in the early 90s. I only use scissors to trim my quilt tops and if I have enough space I use an old rotary blade.
Do what you feel is best for you.

I used to be very anti-rotary cutter and would only use scissors and my own made templates. But once I switched over my life was sooooo much easier. I've found the with a rotary cutter you can get a more accurate cut much faster. One sucky thing about rotary cutters though is it is a lot easier to cut yourself. I cut my hand open in January with one and had to get 5 stitches.

I would make use of the sales and coupons. Just be done with it and buy the rotary cutter and mat. You will be glad you did. That way you will have and don't ever give it away again. I almost got rid of my sewingand quilting supplies a few years ago and am so happy I have. Like anything else better to have it and not need it as to need it and not have it. You can always use your rotary, mat and rulers for other projects. I use my rotary to rip seams out of jeans. I just pull the fabric back and have at it. Just splurge for the right tools. you'll be a lot happier. Less frustration if the cut isn't accurate with scissors and not all purchased precuts are the same size. Easier to square up with a rotary and ruler and cutting mat.

Always use a safety tool when using a rotary cutter. That is as automatic for me as buckling the seat belt in a car.

I agree with Tessagin and would go buy the rotary cutter again. Since you are thinking about making another quilt who knows if the bug will grip you again and it doesn't take up much room. My husband uses one to trim photos he prints. (He has a printer for photos.) You never know when you want to trim things. You can get a mid-size mat and keep it on the bottom of a drawer and get the plastic cover for the cutter and it won't take up much room.

Definitely rotary cutter for long cuts. Since you are thinking a bigger mat, I'd go with the rotary cutter. To me it's a basic, I only use scissors for cutting off flippy corners and threads.