> I got into woodworking because I was astonished at the price of decently-made furniture here in the US. You can literally buy all the materials AND tools for less than one solid wood rustic-chic kitchen table and bench costs to buy.

Not really surprising, the majority of the cost is the actual work. Especially in high-wage countries like the US. Buying a computer to build a website is also much cheaper than getting a website made by someone else.

> Anyway, the hard part about this is that you need a space and then the tools and some tools are easier/cheaper to build than buy (e.g. bandsaw, router table) but there comes a point at which you have to stop building the shop and start building furniture. Most of the YouTubers I follow haven't gotten this message yet...

You might like my Youtube channel then (see previous link). I work in my living room, using my couch and my Ikea stool for basically everything. A lot of cheap hand tools, but I can't work without my drill press. I pick up 2x3's at the local home depot, start sawing and drilling, and mostly use bolts and nuts for connections. Along the way I pick up new power tools, like a portable drill, a dremel, and my newest - a trim router. I built a bicycle caravan, a portable stove, among others. One of the things that really surprised me is the amount of jigs that come to life out of nowhere, haha.

By the way, nice bandsaw you made!

And in many cases you can "just" draw what you want and find a local-ish woodworker to make it for you.

The stuff in furniture stores has like 5 different stages of companies each taking a cut, increasing the price at every step.