My chain is really bad and I'm strapped for cash at the moment. I'm planning to upgrade to a newer bike next year, do i really need to get new sprockets? Thanks.

 

It's not necessary. Inspect the sprockets for amount of wear and if everything looks good just get a new chain.

 

really good
What are the chances of worn-out chain + good sprockets combination?
If you put a new chain on a worn-out spockets - you'll ruin the (new) chain...

 

not changing the sprockets will result in the chain wearing out prematurely, and causing the sprockets to wear out faster. really needs to be done as a whole.

People who say its ok to change one w/o the other usually fit in one of the following:

Dont ride enough to know better.

Change bikes like they do underwear.

think they know it all...

have a 10yo bike with less than 10k miles on it!

 

If your chain is really bad like you say then I would imagine that your sprockets are not in the best shape. As stated previously if you put a new chain on bad sprockets it will wear out very fast. I would do a set.

 

Well, ideally you should be swapping the whole thing, right.
But you may also dramatize and exaggerate anything you want. I don't have a huge experience, but I have already seen some really f*cked up stuff. People are riding bikes I wouldn't even dare to sit on. I'm not saying that since there are such people it's ok to skip some things.
Deathwing also said that he is tight on cash, the chain by itself is about 150-200 and sprockets will be 80-100. A little saving right there. You might not save anything in a long run, but for now yes. Maybe later on the life will be easier and will be possible to get the whole set.
I don't think anything critical happens if you do it, Deathwing.

 

If its stock steel sprockets then the chances are very good. They don't wear for sh*t. Its the aluminum ones that don't last at all and need to be changed all the time.

 

Steel or not they wear in with the chain, you replace the chain n not the sprockets they can wear the chain out in a heartbeat. Its like changing a timing chain in a engine, you change out the gears n chain as a set, same difference here.

 

I'll agree with all of you. Although ideally you should change both of them out, I think you'll be OK just replacing the chain, depending of course on the condition of the sprockets. The OP didn't mention how many miles he's got on them. When I took mine off with 14K miles, they looked pretty damn good to me.
There was an article somewhere that mentioned wrapping the new chain around a used sprocket, if in question. So long as there was no space between the rollers & the sprocket itself, around the whole circumference, it should be OK to use.
That said, eBay has sprocket/chain combos for under $150 so there really is no reason not to get both, even if it means going 520

2H company if you're paying $150+ for just a chain, you're getting jipped

 

price a DID chain