Haha, well I just always overestimate on costs so that I never overspend on things (aka I don't end up overdrawing my account). And as for the bedding, it costs me about 10$ for a 10lbs bag of aspen, as for the tank, well Petco kind of overcharges.

And if you're going for cost effective, nothing beats storage bins. And as a warning a large glass tank like a 55 is extremely hard to move, which is why I usually go for plexiglass over glass, but plastic storage bins would be even better.