One thing I wouldn't shortchange myself on is a good quality soldering station. If you had to put a little more money back (or ask Ole Saint Nick), it would be worth it in the long run.
You might save some money on components by investing in a good iron and a "solder sucker" (vacuum plunger). A couple of visits to garage sales and flea markets or some dumpster diving can turn up a gold mine of working components (old VCRs, clock radios, cassette players, computer monitors and power supplies, etc). All you need is the time to desolder, sort, and identify them. If you are inexperienced at soldering, DEsoldering several boards is good practice and with little money invested in your scrap boards, your mistakes and overheated parts are no loss.
One idea for obtaining parts might be to go to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army and offer to dispose of any nonworking electronics that might be donated to them. They may ask a small donation in exchange or they may be happy to just give you non-working items they consider junk, as long as you are prompt about picking them up.
Believe me, for your 80 pounds of expenditure on a good soldering station and a little time and effort, you will net 100 x's as many useful components for experimenting with, you'll gain valuable experience in part identification, and you'll have the satisfaction of having sort of recycled a lot of otherwise landfill material. Also, if you are resourceful and find a lot of older equipment, circa 80's, 90's, you'll find plenty of through-hole components that are difficult to find or no longer manufactured but are still useful for home experimenters.
I don't sort junk myself, but in my work I discard many junk circuit boards and from time to time I rescue good parts for my electronics tackle box.