The OP mentioned that in post #1. But then he mentioned multimeters in the same sentence, but we all discussed those
Good basic hand tools are something I was taking as read, but it's definitely worth upgrading to nice ones if/when budget permits. The cheaper ones I had as a kid are still with me in various DIY or car/bike tool kits, and it's nice to still have those for those jobs where you might risk damaging the expensive ones. I won't suggest brands as that could be as contentious as discussing your favourite multimeter brand or asking about Weller vs Metcal, but there's plenty of choice.
Using pliers to undo nuts is a terrible habit of mine - I'm quite good at it after years of having no alternative as a child, but obviously there is always a risk of damaging or marking something. These days I try to use nut spinners whenever I can, but old habits die hard. But this gets back to my earlier points about workshop space. Trying to store your tools in an organised way that enables fast and easy access to those sorts of tools is really important. If your tools are hard to reach, you're more likely to use the wrong one - such as the pliers. This is quite tricky to achieve, and I'm still working on it! There's a lot more to building a workshop than the gear you fill it with.