I essentially started electronics because of Big Clive. I found him entertaining, and his curiosity rubbed off. It's nice to have a simple, practical context

I essentially started electronics because of Big Clive. I found him entertaining, and his curiosity rubbed off. It's nice to have a simple, practical context for learning the basics, and his channel provides that in spades. As for gearing up, I think $300 is way on the high end. A cheap $10 temp-controlled soldering iron, solder, flux, and flush-cut snips are most of what you need. I'd add in some assorted parts bags; you can get like 20 each of dozens of different resistors in a big sack for $15 on eBay. Do that for common stuff like LEDs, capacitors, transistors, and some arduinos and such, and you're good to go. Could be well under $100 for a good start.