Get yourself a set of high quality sharpening tools for the hand tools. Lapping plate(s) water stones, heavy strops, etc. They will last you a lifetime and your work and results will show it. You can get some of the best hand tooling from auctions and estate sales. Keep a sharp eye.
That is sound advice. My best hand tools are were purchased second hand - some considered antiques! but these days, new precision hand tools are hard to come by, even expensive ones often fail to come close to the ones made early last century.
I would not let that stop you from creating, however. Tool collections take a lifetime to acquire (and that is mostly because quality tools are expensive) don't search out for it until you need it or have it find you. we have an awesome flea market in town (wisconsin) and that is where I pick up a lot of stuff.
I used to be able to afford only shitty tools, but they end up failing you at the worst time. I purchased a set of small carving chisels for like $50 and the fuckers would not hold an edge for longer than 5 minutes. what a waste of time and money.
And like knuck said, get sharpening tools and learn how to use them well! no matter how good your tools are, if they are dull, they are not worth much as far as woodworking goes. A set of diamond stones is expensive, but well worth it:
http://amzn.com/B002RL8444 this is a link to medium, look down the page for the two others.
The first quality hand tool I purchased was a beautiful set of Swedish made chisels (I will post a picture later). I purchased them from a cabinet maker that was retiring. I think I paid around $150 for them - whatever it was, it was a steal but at that time (8 or so years ago) it was a huge expense to our household and I had to save up quite a bit to buy them.