To be fair, we moved into this house eight years ago so I haven't been deprived for that long.
Can't wait to move though. This basement is not climate controlled and the new one will be.
Can't wait to brew some dopplebock!

Nice. Wish I even had a basement. West coast'n all. I've never brewed a bock. Good luck.

Squinty: I never really calculated, but between the 10 gallon pot, the carboys (or buckets which are cheaper and just as well for most purposes), the burner, the grinder (probably not essential if your store grinds, but classy), wort chiller, the bottle capper, test jars, and my amigo had an alcoholmeter (apparently just 6.99! Probably worth it?), and thermometer (unless you have one already): Maybe around 200 dollars? Possibly more. Although I think the cheapest starter sets begin at about a hundred. I don't think they include the burner, though. I could be mistaken.

For the mash, we used a cooler, with a hose attachment and a screwdriver with an industrial whisk attachment jerry-rigged on that sh*t. I'm actually not sure what other people use.

Bottles should be free (just save the ones you drink out of). Caps are cheap.

The beer itself does come out to be less expensive. After your yeast, hops, and grains, you probably won't spend too much. I think the least I spent on a five gallon batch was a 20 dollar wit. The most I spent was 60 dollars on one of the dark ales. But even then, that's still only 12 dollars a gallon for a beer that probably woulda cost even more.

Do you have a local brewstore? I'd recommend ordering hops online - maybe yeasts too.

BTW don't use plastic carboys from water services.
Little inside scratches cannot be cleaned completely and will lead to contamination.