I'm one of the misers who built my first wheels with zero investment. I used an old frame for a stand, made a pretty nice dishing tool from a piece of bed frame and some spare hardware, and used the spoke wrench I already had. For my second set of wheels I bought a nipple driver for less than $10, and I thought that was worth it. (Those were 40-spoke wheels.)

I have a pretty good musical ear, and even with access to a tension meter now I don't use it much.