I don't use a secondary fermenter, although there have been times it would have been nice. You can get very good beer without a secondary fermenter.
I guess it really depends on a couple of things. What constitutes "a bunch of money" for you? If you follow instructions precisely and keep everything sanitized, you won't make bad beer (unless you use a recipe that calls for rice malt.)
Basements in general are a good place, but the actual temperature is dependent on your yeast. If you use an ale yeast, your fermenting temperature will be higher than with a lager yeast or a champagne yeast. Ale should ferment right in the 68-72F (20-22C) range. You can go a little bit outside those ranges, but that's the "sweet spot." You'll only need a fridge for lagers (45-55F, or 7-13C).
I haven't had a really bad batch yet. I cook the wort in an old canning pot and just shove the fermenter in a quiet dark corner. I'll let the hydrometer tell me when fermentation is done (that is, if you're following a recipe, it should include an original gravity and a final gravity, and fermentation is done when you hit that final gravity.)
It does cost some money, but not a ridiculous amount. A lot of the equipment can be purchased at garage sales or on craigslist. A thermometer is a thermometer. The brewing-specific equipment you'll need really is the fermenter with airlock, bottling bucket with spigot, bottles (which can be reused bottles that aren't the screw-top type), racking cane and tubing, hydrometer and bottlecapper.
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