First cost. Of course the estimates are all based on what you have on hand. Unfortunately we all don't have everything needed.
My hot plates were $10 a piece on Amazon. Nothing fancy but do the job.
The pots I picked up at the dollar store for $5 a piece.
The battery charger I had since I was a teenager. It is a Craftsman 2/10amp. Normally it is set to the 10 amp setting being when high rate charging a battery it is the voltage that will drive the current so at the 10 amp setting the voltage is higher than at the 2 amp setting. One thing you want to look for in a battery charger is that it does not have auto shutoff. When current flow drops due to anodizing layer being built some battery chargers will shut off being it thinks they battery is charged. Of course this is not a good thing because your process will stop. Here is a charger at Harbor Freight which would NOT be desirable because it has that switching I am referring too.
http://www.harborfreight.com/2-6-amp-6-12-volt-battery-charger-45005.html Now here at Harbor Freight is one that would be more desirable.
http://www.harborfreight.com/10-2-55-amp-6-12-volt-battery-charger-engine-starter-66783.html
The first one depending on what you are going to anodize the 6 amp limit would work but it has the feature that you don't want. If you do any car work at all or want something on hand just incase you need it to charge your battery I think it won't be a bad investment to buy the larger charger and look at it as an investment in a tool for multiple purposes. Chargers can be found in many places from Walmart to Sears to Auto Parts Stores.
You will find the internal workings or components in the chargers are the same. Sears probably comes out of the same factory as the Harbor Freight. I would try and find one with an amp meter built on it if you do not have one.
Distilled water pickup at local grocery store. I pay about 0.80 a gallon. Some places if you buy it by the case they give you a little break.
The dye can be had at Walmart or the local hobby/fabric store. I ordered mine off of JoAnn Fabrics online. it was about $3 a bottle. My son wanted a whole bunch of different colors to offer for his parts so we bough enough to hit the free shipping deal they had going at the time. As I said you shouldn't have a problem picking it up locally especially if you are only getting a couple colors. Try and buy the liquid, it mixes easier but the powder will work.
For a thermometer I would try and find a candy thermometer. It is one of those that is in the glass tube. I suggest this because no matter what you put it in there will not be any reactions. If it was metal, like a meat thermometer, you might get a bad reaction. You only need one and rinse it off and move it between the different baths. I went overboard and used thermocouples and industrial temperature controllers. With this though I can independently watch all the temperatures.
I also built a voltmeter amp meter combo to monitor anodizing process so I didn't have my expensive meters near the process.
Once again as far as cost it is like a lot say about making parts instead of buying them, you normally spend more to make them but boy its fun and is the whole idea behind hobbying.
)
I hope this helped.
Have a great day!
Ed