bare minimum equipment needed to start saltwater

Live Sand..Live rock..Quality lighting..the best skimmer you can afford..and Salifert test kits. Thats what I'd use to get a FO tank going. And a Emperor 400 for added bio and ability to add chemicals if needed..minus the bio wheels.

Skimmers can be debated as to if they are required or not, if you are really strapped for cash, you can go skimmerless if you watch the bioload and have a DSB with LR

Get the liverock. Accept the financial hit. It makes it so much easier than trying cannisters, UGF's....
13.97 dollars get's you a copy of Palettas New Marine Aquarium from Amazon. Read it cover to cover.
A very high percentage of saltwater owners give up in the first year. Do the reading and don't be a statistic.

Lighting is up to you, use a cheap setup until you decide that you want to start housing corals. Until you get that far, don't spend your money on lights, buy more live rock. My tank doesn't have a filter, just live rock and a protein skimmer, plus 3 powerheads. You are going to need something to circulate the water in your tank, and a canister filter will prob not be enough. I bought 2 brand new maxijet 1200 on ebay for about $30, well worth it. I was like you last year this time, I bought a cheapo protein skimmer and about 10lbs of LR. Since then I've bought a CPR protein skimmer and another 30 lbs of LR, very important to have good rock and a good skimmer.