Having been involved in Astronomy for over thirty years I can honestly
say that I consider many beginners to this hobby to be wasting money
on needless equipement.

If you are considering buying a starter type telescope, do consider
first a good pair of binoculars. I have both a 10" reflector telescope
and a pair of quality binos, and to be honest I consider the
binoculars to be much superior for general astronomy.

Another advantage is that binoculars can be used for other things such
as bird watching etc.

I cannot emphasis enough how important it is to get the right
equipement at the outset of starting this hobby, and if funds are low
binoculars will win through everytime.

Hope this helps someone.

Bernie