I've read through the growing guide by Widow Maker, amazing guide btw, very informative. I learned a lot, however I felt that his system is way too large for me. I have a closet that is about 5'x2'x7'. I'd like to start growing in this space and I believe I have the means to begin. If someone could basically give me a checklist of what I need to start growing, I'd appreciate it.

Basically all I have at this point are seeds.

welcome Blorth.., before givein a list of what to get, how much do you want to spend, are you trying to do this on the cheap or you willing to spend some cash?

Biggest factor would be money, and if its in a closet, "can you properly vent out the heat and get fresh air in there" (thats one of the main issues)?..And that will determine what lights you can use...
Are you going with soil, non soil (hydro), is it a secure location...."meaning your own place?"

Fist decide what rout you want to go with it..

hey all i am new to it just ordered the waterfarm 8 pack, with a 1000 watt hps light, got big bang and hemylaya gold seeds from the u.k any tips for the newbie as to planting the germinated seeds. do they have to be put in rockwool cubes before planting in the water farm???

oh they are feminised seeds also!!

Thank you for the welcome. I'd like to spend around $200.

I can manually vent the heat most likely since I spend a lot of time around my apartment. I'm going with soil and yes, it's my apartment. I read the post about the guy in the dorm room. Made me laugh a little.

Well in a apartment i would invest part of that $200 on a good carbon filter. The one i have is a 4lb carbon filter with the built in fan..(i got it off ebay for $70 delivered, and works excellent.)
That will give you $130 to play with..So i would go with cfl's, and that will help with heat. You can build a nice cfl fixture for about $15 + the bulbs so around $35 (pm me and ill send you the info on that), that will leave you around $100, so you can get some good seeds, and GH Nutrients the flora series 3 pack for $35. The only other thing i would get is a ph test kit..(you can get the ph up and down kit with ph tester for $15 off ebay)and just use a couple of small fans for air movment.
With all that you sould be pretty close to budget, maybe 10-20 over..
Lights

Filter

PH Kit and Nute's