There's two articles on external sites that I think have some (slightly humourous) relevance here - but budget always intervenes. Thom Hogan's take on tripods and Mike Johnstone's "Letter to George"

davesmith: I'd concede the external flash, but I think a flash is an excellent learning tool for particular sorts of photography, and I have learned to hate the internal one on the camera.

Darren: pretty much spot on, but I think two lenses helps you learn (at least it helped me learn that I always have the wrong one on )