my new project , buying it the cheap way..how much have u spent?

Can't beat going the cheap route. Not everything has to be top of the line to make it beautiful tank.

Edit: Guess I can add mine.

40g breeder - $40. Petco's $1/1g sale.
All wood stand/canopy - ~$100 in materials
Filstar XP2 - $60. Printed off Petsmart's online price.
Substrate - $10. Got 40lbs dirt cheap from a LFS
200w heater - $15. Closeout sale.
2 Shop light fixtures - $7 each
10 25w T8 bulbs - $28 off eBay

Can't remember the prices for the rest of my tanks. Most were either free or cheap.

my 20g long...

$25 for a standard black-trimmed 20 long at petsmart
$3 for sand substrate
$8 for a 48" shop light
$24 for two 48" T5 6000k Verilux bulbs
$5 for DIY CO2 (diffused with a powerhead i had laying around)
$20 for two Whisper 10 hobs.
$15 for heater
total
$100 just about, not counting plants and fish, which i collected over several months. also, no stand, it was sitting on a cedar chest.

5.5g

$10 for tank
$15 for parts for DIY canister filter
$9 for two spiral compact flouro bulbs and two sockets, i cut appart an old extention cord to wire them up.
stand and hood was free with parts i had laying around
heater was $7 new, but i bought it long before i setup the tank
decor and substrate was leftovers and free

so about $35 total.

45g will be most expensive. its not finished yet, so some of these are estimates

$30 for used tank
$6 for substrate (cat litter and sand)
$14 for driftwood
$200 for pressurized CO2 setup
$80 for two AC 50s
$100 total for AHS 96w kit and bulb
$30-ish for stand supplies
$35 for two 100w Visitherm stealth heaters
i don't even want to begin trying to figure out how much plants will cost...