When you are starting out, the temptation is to buy everything. Resist it. Almost every beginner project comes down to five tools, and mastering those will teach you more than a garage full of gadgets ever could.

Start with these five - A circular saw with a straightedge guide. It does the job of a table saw for a fraction of the cost and space. - A cordless drill/driver. You will use it on literally every project, for both pilot holes and screws. - A set of bar clamps. Glue does the holding; clamps do the squeezing. Buy more than you think you need. - A combination square. Accuracy starts here. A cheap, untrue square will sabotage every joint downstream. - A random orbital sander. Hand sanding is character-building exactly once. After that, you will want the sander.

Why this list and not a table saw Beginners often assume a table saw is the first big purchase. It is powerful, but it is also expensive, space-hungry, and unforgiving if you skip the safety habits. A circular saw with a guide rail teaches you to cut accurately at a quarter of the price, and it stores on a shelf.

Spend where it counts If your budget is tight, put the money into the drill and the clamps, and buy the sander and square mid-range. The square is the one place where buying the cheapest option will genuinely cost you accuracy, so spend a few extra dollars there. Everything else can be upgraded later, once you actually know what you are missing.