Getting The Equipment

I've been lucky in getting my brewery started as I haven't needed all of the brewing equipment right up front. I was able to borrow what I've needed as I've brewed until very recently as I have a friend that brews down the street from me so borrowing equipment was very easy. I started out with a brew kit that I acquired off of craigslist for sixty dollars (originally listed for one hundred twenty five dollars).
The kit included:

Primary fermenting bucket
Five gallon glass carboy and siphon cap
Bottling bucket and spigot
Bottle drying tree
Bottle and carboy brushes
Sink mount bottle washer
Bottle capping tool (Red Baron type)
Three piece airlock
Large stainless spoon
Plastic stirring spoon
Large plastic funnel with filter

So this was a pretty good deal and I felt pretty good about it as the dude I bought it from seemed to have a really clean house and all of the equipment was in great condition. These items provided the base of what I needed to get started. When I bought it it was used for five or so brews according to the dude. Some of the equipment from the kit I use really frequently and some of it I haven't used at all. It all depends on your brewing methods and brewing methods vary greatly from brewer to brewer.

As a side note I am constantly annoyed by self important brewers on forums writing  posts assuming that they are so talented that you by reading their posts will automatically adopt all of their methodology. If you're a new brewer don't assume these people know what they are talking about, most of these guys have few friends are completely socially inept and fail to realize that there are many paths to take to making great beers.

Anyway I decided to get this equipment after being an assistant brewer for a friend of mine for several brews. This was a great way to learn the overall process and get tips on my own brewing. For my first few brews I needed to borrow a burner and kettle to brew on my own but eventually I was able to acquire my own boiling equipment and now my home brewery is complete enough where I no longer need to borrow any equipment to brew or finish beer. However if you know someone that you can borrow some equipment from you can stretch out that initial investment and make it not so painful.