It usually seems be whatever someone borrowed and didn't bring back.
I picked up one of those cheap 1" band sander bench top models and love it. It allowed me to replace the fine wheel on the bench ginder with a wire wheel, which is nice.
LOL! Boy aint that the truth!
I think it depends on what you will be working on. Wood work, bare essentials to me is a good circular saw, with home made fixtures for accuracy.
For automotive, I would not want to give up my 2 post lift, and hand tools are of course as important.