Setting up my first lab and this has been my list: good mulimeter with temp (fluke), good soldering station variable temperature (Hakko fx888) and solder (60/40 multicore small), desolder wick, flux pen, flush side cutters, desolder pump, safetyglasses, esd wrist strap and set of 5 different pliers, cutting pliers, set of 5 ss tweezers, various screwdrivers and kits with multiple types of strange tips for odd screws fastenings including the normal hex and allen etc. A helping hand with magnifying glass. Bag of multi-coloured leads with alligator clips on both ends. Leads etc as required. Picked up from roadside old fan for blowing fumes, desklamp and bookshelf for storage.... . A wire stripper and crimper. I splurged on an automatic adjusting wire stripper and crimper. It was expensive comparatively but its so simple and quick to do wires so glad I did (my favourite tool I think). I bought a heap of plastic compartment boxes so able to get a good price halved the rrp. Easy to see through so can find bits easily. You can use cut down containers (eg milk bottles etc) and various containers with lids to store bits and pieces.
Some of the tools are not the best quality but not the worst either work perfectly well for now. The money saved on them has been put into the multimeter and soldering iron which form the base of the 'lab". I have only bought things on special or deals over long time. Iam selvageing bits from things other people throw out. I hope this helps. Others who have real experience and knowledge will be able to point out things to do better.
P.s just a thought if you can find some others who want to buy the same in your area- as many retailers will give you better prices if you buy a number of an item or multiple items which can reduce costs quite a bit sometimes not just in terms of postage. Get to know your retailer sometimes a friendly phone call is better than an email and they may be able to give suggestions and help.
P.s Shop around I have found items 1/2 or 1/3 less compared to another store. Also sometimes some items cheaper and some others are more exspensive in the same store. So mix and match but don't forget to take into account the postage. Just some thoughts.