I'm a vet of previous editions, however, after an almost 7 year hiatus (where I got married, had a son and started a new career) I've finally found a group of friends to start playing 5th edition. 

My question, for someone on a budget, is "What are the absolute essential books that I need to create a PC with?" 

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance. 

PHB really is a great starting point, the essentials kit is nice too.  Consider before you buy anything though if you want to do physical copies or digital here on DnD Beyond.  There are a few stickied threads with info about how that all works but I'd recommend the DnD Beyond versions. 

Thanks!

Thanks!

I am new to D&D, have played rpg games in the past on pc and consoles, but never the table top game if you don't count warhammer and warhammer 40k.

my first trip into character creation was using the critical role handbooker helper videos and the website orcpub.

i then got the free rules and tried creating a character again, then got the starter set and tried to run a game, but not that great at DMing, i would need to prepare more before trying it again.

my current game is a group all sharing my handbook and the dm having the essentials kit and the dungeon masters guide.

so depending on how detailed you what to go with the character, class options & backgrounds:

spend nothing: use youtube and the free rules

spending a little: the starter or essentials kit

spending a little more: the player hand book

spend a large initial outlay: buy the D&D core rulebook gift set (dm screen, players hand book, dungeon masters guide and monster manual)

go the whole hog: buy the above and also the others like volos guide to monsters, tomb of annihilation etc.

if you want a bunch of the stuff and are happy with digital instead of physical, then on here there are bundles that could suit you depending on your budget.

I recommend starting with essentials kit. It gets you everything you need to start playing either physical or digital for the cost of 1 rulebook.

The core rule books are PHB, DMG, and MM. You will probably eventually need all 3, but the PHB is most important.

The first supplement I recommend is XGtE.

Thanks to everyone for the excellent suggestions! 

Every time I buy, I check if I really like it by getting the price I want to pay for it and asking myself, "If someone came to me today and offered me a lot of money NOT to buy it, later me? "

I'll get a pair of canvas shoes from lilpeepmerch.net, say. They are $ 40. I like them a lot, I take advantage of them. If someone came to me while waiting for a box and offered me $ 40 just to not buy them, would I walk away?

I have a few books. In retrospect, I would buy the player's handbook on DND Beyond, then buy another book or subclasses/etc. after that. I love the books, but I use the digital versions.

A player wants the PHB and then the XGE.

DM wants the DMG and the MM, in addition to the PHB.