Have you done B&W before giddings?

If not, I would suggest that you try that first. For around $100, including consumables, you would be ready to go (you could even do it cheaper, depending on how much you can buy a second hand tank and reel for. Base consumables for doing B&W film will cost you $70 from scratch. The fixer, if stored properly will last a while, the stop (if you want to use one) and developer will do around 20 films).

I would like to do colour in the future, but I am afraid of the temp issues as well. The good thing about B&W, is its done at around room temp and all you do is adjust development times based on this. Colour requires higher temps and should be kept within less then half a degree.