Ok, well at this point I've now spent about $150, and plan another trip in 2 wks for more soil, nutes, and one more light splitter and some bulbs....so that won't be too much.
I basically hit Lowe's and Home Depot for everything, and currently have a flowering room and a veg/clone cab, all done with that budget and stuff I had lying around.
Between all my CFL's I have more than enough light for the space, and bulbs were less than $20 for around 10, mylar blankets are like 2 bucks, had white paint, all the wiring and splitters are 50 cents to 2 dollars at the stores.
Biggest purchase was a timed powerstrip, at $20, and I think I may get a second one soon to split veg/flowering cycles, but really overall, I don't see why any setup that can get away with CFL's has to be expensive. I may have had more shit lying around than most people, we own our house and have a basement full of furniture, but hell, go to yard sales and pick up lamps and tables and fans if you don't have that lying around, as long as insulation on wiring isn't degraded, and amps and watts are ok, lamp cords are great.
My whole plan was to do my op as successfully and professionally as possible, but without ever getting near the minimum $500 most people claim you need to spend, and so far, after spending a week of 12hr days working on it, it's looking pretty good for what I've spent...