Basic tools: (In no particular order)
Soldering Iron - Temperature controlled is best but not essential. A 15W iron is a good starter for about £15. 30W are cheaper (£5) but may be too much for small components.
Screwdrivers (Flat blade / phillips / Torx) and Pliers / cutters / srippers - Sets of these can be bought very cheaply at Sunday markets. Not top notch quality but they get you started at a low cost. You can then add to or replace as needed. Places like Lidl and Aldi have useful items on their limited speciall offers.
Power supply I've bought a 300mA 1.5 to 12V psu for £4 from Lidl which is adequate for most small scale experiments and guaranteed for 2 years. I've used a ten cell battery holder which can be tapped to give 1.5 to 15V (1.2 to 12 to rechargeables). An old PC PSU is usefull for higher current supplies.
Multimeter is an essential item. Analogue meters are fragile but easier to read if your looking for changes and cheap to buy (£10). Digital meters can be very accurate and robust. Some DVMs have an analog linear scale. There even some with PC interfaces so they can be used for logging.
Scope - Beware of buying scopes off ebay - "working" can mean that only the mains light comes on, it doesnt mean its functional.
Some will say that for the money spent on a scope you can buy a lot components and build a lot of projects. It depends where your interests are and what you want to do.
Perhaps not be an essential item for a beginner but, depending on what you do, could be a highly desirable item and very usefull. You can have a benchtop or a PC type. The PC scope can be a plug in card or an adapter (EG pico). My preference is for a benchtop - real controls always win over virtual ones.
Components
Old equipment is good for components (usefull even with short leads). Despite the fact that many have boards that use SMD it's still possible to get usefull things like: hardware screws, brackets, spacers, heatsinks, switches, sockets etc. VCRs can give motors, solenoids, IR receivers, LED displays, transformers. Copiers or laser printers can yield HV components as well as motors, gears, pulleys and optical parts. Old boilers can be a good source for relays and HV coils.
Finally don't forget a **broken link removed**