1st post!
I Just started with Mr. Beer 8 days ago. My first batch is still fermenting and I already got upgradeitus and am seeking appropriate treatment, which involves the outflow of cash.
First thing I did was get a Ranco ETC. My South Texas house is very warm (76F-80+) when nobody's home, so I was keeping the fermenter in a Coleman thermoelectric cooler that had a thermocouple rigged to it so I could monitor temperature. This required me to manually plug/unplug the cooler to keep the temp in range. I got tired of this quickly and now have the ETC in place to do it for me.
Then I found a 6 gallon ported better bottle on Amazon for $17 with free shipping (We have Amazon Prime). Now, a ported better bottle is useless unless you have a spigot and such, and if you're going to shell out the money for that, you might as well get everything else too, so I've got the O-ring enclosure and dry tap ordered as well, as well as a hydrometer, thermometer, some 1/2" ID line and everything else that I would have gotten in a "kit," though, I got to pick and choose items and omitted items I already had in the house.
After I ordered that I realized I'd need a wort chiller (though I was intrigued by the "no-chill" method), but at first decided to postpone that, that is until I found the 50' chiller at BrewsterBrown for $29.
So, now I've gotten pretty much everything I need on the way, and I have plans to build a simple cardboard/foam fermentation chamber, using my Ranco ETC and scavenging the guts from one of the thermoelectric coolers I've seen locally on Craigslist (going for about $20 compared to $70-$120 new), or taking the removable lid off of my existing cooler, standing it vertically and propping it up to the cardboard/foam chamber.
I'm one of those folks that often enjoys the process as much or more than the product, I'm a BIG DIY'er, and beer brewing seemed to be just another thing I can enjoy! I read a good bit (online and then purchased the printed 3rd edition) of How to Brew before I started all this. I really like the science side of the process, and I think it is one of the big attracters.
I'll probably go ahead and use the second kit that came with my Mr. Beer in the 2 gallon fermenter while I tweak/build my setup, so I'll have a total of 2-2 gallon batches done when I go for my first 5 gallon (all extract - already have my eyes on some kits - since I probably wont have the time to commit to an all grain setup (I have 2 & 4 year old boys who keep me busy).