whats he intimidated by? because if hes scared of the food bill/crickets i would def think twice because well your playing tee ball in the price range on beardys and when ur talking about monitors it can get into the major leagues very easily. and on the note of letting them roam you will get mixed beliefs on this matter but mine are as follows
-- fre roaming in my oppinion is good for both monitors and tegus and pretty much all reptiles because if done properly can allow smaller caging and exersise. tegus in particular iv read various accounts of depending where u live just putting the cage in a tegu proof room and leaving the door open to allow the tegu to get to the enclosure. i would reccomend smaller periods out for monitors only because they need the ambient temp of 80-90 (for most) and accsess to the high basking temp.
i understand all that tho, im thinking about getting my girl a beardy as opposed to the gecko simply because well there cooler lol..
there are a few great sites which im sure other members can chime in on, if your interested in tegus however, www.tegutalk.com and www.tegu.com i believe are two great sites with quite a few long term keepers.
i know this is off subject and this talk can be taken to the beardy side but if you do decide to go witha beardy id deff look into getting into breeding your own roaches, im not sure whats best and not but i know they are easy to breed and better then crickets
from the few posts iv read however id try to steer your boyfriend tword something other then monitors