The only items you won't want to buy there are lighting supplies (the aquarium brands are overpriced even through mail order, and lighting is cheap at local hardware stores), iron additive with chelate (buy in garden section of hardware store), and the CO2 supplies (get at Safeway, except the aquarium glue and air tubing). The fertilizer tablets (Osmocote) should be available at you hardware store also.
O.K., that may sound like a lot of requirements, so what is the bare minimum low budget setup? You need at least a full spectrum fluorescent light for the hood you already have, the CO2 generator, a filter for circulation and CO2 injection, the sand/vermiculite/soil combo I suggested, an Osmocote planting tablet or two, and a nitrate test kit. This all should cost about $40 for a smaller tank. The best improvement on this bare minimum would be to add more light.
