AC guinea pig...

So in conclusion installing it and all that...
I did spend an extra $30 on extra hose and some of it I needed and some of it I didn't, but I'm glad I did. I could have got two $5 cans of freon from Walmart, but I was at AutoZone and they had the part that I needed so I just grabbed there so it was probably a couple dollars more per can..
I spent $20 getting a few of the couplers professionally crimped... It did come with all the hose clamps if I just wanted to do it that way and even the place that crimped them said the hose clamps will probably work just fine... I bought a nice $20 Gates belt but I could have but one from AutoZone for 7 or 8 bucks.. I needed a mounting bolt and a strap bolt for the dryer. I did spend $47 for those generic brackets..
I've got to say so far for the original $465 the kit was extremely complete and they answered at least a half a dozen of my calls. I would say a guy can get away very tight budget with renting the equipment...
So I would say with what they give you a couple cans of freon and a bracket to hold the compressor you probably only another 20 or $30 away from having AC...
I think I'm somewhere around 550 without buying equipment and that was about a hundred and thirty or so...