have 500 dollars need help on a setup. also plans for my grow. advice?

I have 500 bucks to go shopping for my grow stuff. maybe i could get some advice on what the best way to spend my money would be. im going to try and save every way possible but i dont want to take away from quality at all. some ways im thinking of saving are making my own SOIL and nutes. 100% organic. i was thinking of buying foxfarm because they are organic but im not sure its worth it. Lighting i want to get a 600 w HPS for sure because i read they are the most efficient HPS you can buy. I want to do a veg stage with a MH and then flower with the MH and HPS. Also want a UVB source of somekind for flowering. The problem i am finding is the price range from one brand of 400w MH and another can be a huge price difference. any reccomendations on brands of ballasts etc that are good and reliable? any links to the products would help greatly. I already have a squirll cage blower fan and am planning on buyin some other fans. Im going to buy some MYLAR and line the walls or might just get some PVC and make a tent out of that and mylar. Im thinking of Co2 tank but i dont thiink i have the money for that. anyone know of a cheap alternative? i cant think anymore so im just gonna post it

High Tech Garden Supply will have most of the materials you are looking for, for affordable prices. dunno about the setup u want but i know good prices

If you want the most for your money look for used lights on craigslist or similar. You can get 1000w halides for as low as $50 if you watch for them, more often $100 range. You said you want good and reliable ballasts, those older magnetic ballasts last much longer than the newer digitals, and since they're cheap and you are on a budget I'd go that way.

The foxfarm soil is absolutely worth it, and trying to mix your own can bring problems like bad bacteria or bugs so I'd wait on mixing your own until you have run the foxfarm and have a reference to compare growth. You can still add the best stuff for organics like guano etc if you like, and pearlite if it needs it, I don't know for sure on that brand but tons of folks absolutely love foxfarm.

Do not try to make your own nutes, use a good proven pre-mix. You can try making your own later again after you have seen what the good stuff does.

You don't need additional UVB source, when you flower use BOTH your halide and HPS and you're set. If you want to keep a halide in your veg area then just get and additional used halide for the flower chamber.

With magnetic ballasts brand names and such don't matter much.

You don't have to skimp all over the place with $500. That's easily enough to get everything but c02.

Don't even bother with co2 until later... As long as you have fresh air coming in and are venting somewhere else you'll still get great yields but you're on the verge of overcomplicating things to start. Keep it simple and use guaranteed good stuff.

which section do i look under on craigslist to find the lights? i cant seem to find anything. i want to use a 4 maybe even a 5 gallon pot for my pot to grow in. and the only problem is fox farm seems pretty expensive for that much soil in the pots but thats what i want to do. dont want to go smaller. maybe i could buy a compost bin or something to reduce the risk of bacteria? in the organics section they are all about making teas for nutes and stuff but is bacteria really that big of an issue? also i was just thinkin.. when you grow indoors you try to mimic the outdoor enviroment right. morning sun is not too intense and it gets more intense throughout the day. what if you had some cfl's and turned them on for about an hour before you turned the HID on. think that would reduce a little stress or be beneficial in any way?

I say scrap the MH and get a blue spectrum enhanced hps bulb like a Hortilux.. This will do you all the way through.. Word of advice, don't forget ventilation..
Don't worry about the dusk/dawn thing, that just reduces the amount of light pumped in a day, lower intensity is only worth it if its due to a light mover thats always pumping bright on some other plants..

Just search all of craigslist for sale section for the words "high bay" "low bay" "hps" "high pressure sodium" "halide" "grow light" "aquarium light" "ballast" "light fixture" whatever you are looking for that is. Do one of those searches at a time. I got 32 250w metal halides for free off craigslist around a month ago. They were pulled from a school and the guy was trying to sell them for $20 or $30 bucks ea but no takers. I offered to pick them up and at least save them from the dumpster if he couldn't sell them and sure enough he said ok, he needed them out of the way with school starting.

Lots of businesses are pulling out MH lights, sometimes in the hundreds, and replacing with more energy efficient alternatives.

Don't try to browse for it, use their search. Generally they are in the farm/garden section but the search on the first page of cl will find them.

No need to bring lights up slow etc. Bacteria, fungus, bad bugs, and MOLD can come in any material you just use from outdoors. If you are stuck on that idea (which many people do use successfully) then you should probably start another thread asking about doing that specifically. I would not do it without baking the mixture in the oven to sterilize and kill all those things but since I have not done it I'm not the one to say for sure how to do it or how big of a risk that is.

MH will fit in your budget and be beneficial during both veg and flower, I would not scrap it if you can afford it. Also pulse start halide bulbs have a spectrum equal if not superior to hortilux for all stages of growth at a fraction of the price.

dam 500 bucks, i spent more than almost 2 grand, and i still havent setup yet shitty hah, anyways if i was you i would save up and buy everything you need, you start skipping shit and you will pay for eventually,

I have less than $100 in, and am using the worst soil and nutes and still doing fine. Care and technique and time and good budget shopping especially used can do it all on $500 easily including good soil and nutes.

for the record I have miracle grow soil (the crap everyone including myself would never reccomend) just using that because I already had it in the garage. Using shultz veg fert with micronutrients and shultz super bloom for veg. a few 42w cfls and how ever many of the free 250w halides I decide to use.

None of which I would reccomend and your budget is plenty to do better but you won't be buying pre made activated charcoal filters, expensive can fans, etc. You'll need to use the cheaper duct booster fans that are like $40 and do a DIY activated filter.
Maybe just a liquid ph kit to start, the GH ones that come with ph up and down bottles from the hydro store. I found $3 timers at Big Lots, and 99cent thermometers at Bi-mart, cheap $6 6" fans to circulate air (don't recall where I got them), 250cfm bathroom exhaust fan that sells for $14 or so at home depot, $2 mylar camping emergency blankets instead of real mylar at the hydro shop, and the nutes were $5 ea at Bi-Mart also.

This time of year is great because lawn and garden supplies are being clearanced since the summer is at an end. Of couse that depends on where you are.

Cheap stuff like I have works, certainly not ideal but hey I'll have plenty of smoke, good enough for now...