The OP clearly states that he wants to reload for several rifle calibers and several pistol calibers.
I built my reloading bench in my garage. I'm not a professional carpenter but I do have a reasonable skill set having built many wood projects over the years. I have plans to start building a 14' boat in the next few years. Also, as a kid my Dad handloaded several rifle calibers so I had some idea of what a workable bench should look like. I did a lot of research and planning but even so I got a few things wrong.
Anyway, using some materials from my scrap pile including the bench top which happens to be furniture grade maple plywood, I have easily $300.00 out-of-pocket in materials in my 7.5' long bench. It works, has ample storage and doesn't move. Still it's not perfect and so this spring I have plans to make a new set of legs as I want to raise the bench height 5" I have a budget of $100.00 to make a robust and workable bench a little more comfortable. In addition LED light strips will add another $50.00. I had to run initially a separate electrical circuit to powder my bench. These are things that no one here ever talks about, building benches and making sure they have everything they need to perform the task at hand. Not included are all of the plastic bins and boxes that have been added to store the stuff. Misc. brick-a-brack that we all need and use. But if you have no desire to build an adequate bench, purchasing a Harbor Freight Windsor bench will cost +/-$150.00 Add a few lights and hardware to fasten it to the wall and boom.... $200.00 And after a week with that bench you will come to realize that you need additional storage space.
Last fall I built a wall mounted two shelf horizontal bookcase 8' long, 28" high and 14" deep. Purchased three (3) sheets of 3/4 plywood and milled the trim mostly from furring strips I had. 16 lag bolts/washers to fasten it to the wall and a quart of paint, an LED light strip. Boom...another $150.00 to put adequate wall storage within arms reach of my reloading bench.
To comply with NFPA 495 smokeless powder storage requirements I built a wall mounted storage cabinet out of nominal 1" lumber. Granted mine is prolly bigger than most here but I used lumber I had in the scrap pile but it still took me a week to put it all together and get it hung. In all I have maybe a month of weekend and evening time invested in my reloading area, something I think a person thinking about getting started should know.
How often do we read where a new handloader states "I bought the _____ kit but now I have to buy _____ to make it work? Or to make my ammo?
As far as budget is concerned it is impossible to purchase all of the gear you will need for less than $500.00 Some will argue that they bought such and such Lee kit for I don't know say $150.00 but you will not have everything you need and while the tackle may work OK you will be looking to replace everything in a very short time.
To rephrase what I said as quoted above it is possible to order a kit that claims to have everything you need to start this endeavor for about $150.00 However that kit is not going to make a handloader out of anyone. Assuming that the potential handloader is going to be reloading rifle calibers a case trimmer is going to cost roughly $100.00, a case tumbler $75.00, tumbling media $10.00, a bullet puller $20.00, el cheapo digital calipers $15.00, some kind of plastic loading block $10.00, Chamfer and de-burring tools $20.00. This is over $200.00 spent and you still don't have 1. a press, 2. a powder scale, 3. powder measure, 4. dies and shell holders, 5. handloaders manual, 6. priming tool. Add to that any of the needed consumable goods such as powder, primers and bullets.
Of course one can go to K-MART and buy an inexpensive set of tools to work on your car. But we all know where that leads us ultimately even if we don't plan on becoming professional mechanics. I learned that lesson when I was 17. So why do we try to insinuate that for someone who has finally made the decision to jump into handloading after (as the OP clearly states) many years of planning and dreaming that they should buy stuff that everyone here knows will be tossed aside after a month or so, or that the collection of tools will grow at a exponential rate? Why not be honest right from the start and state that if you don't want to allocate $500.00 to this hobby then maybe it's not for you?
In summary if you have a realistic budget of between $500.00 to $1,000.00 then you will take most if not all of the stress out of putting your workspace together and your collection of tools will put a smile on your face and last more than a month or two.
