monitors ~ $1500

mic cables, mic stands, stereo bars various, soldering iron/solder/solder wicking, quality cable, connectors, multimeter, good screwdrivers, nut drivers ~ $300-1000 depending

Yamaha's Sound Reinforcement Handbook ~ $35 new

quality microphones-skip the chinese stuff-couple of omni and some cardioids ~ whatever is left

YMMV

Jack's suggestions are great - but I think he could give you better ones if you were more specific about what you intend to record...
Acoustic? Metal? Pop? Synth/MIDI?

The only thing I have to add would maybe be to look into a better interface. My Firestudio has been awfully buggy lately, it may be a situation unique to me.
However, the Firepod will do fine, especially since you already have it.

Rod Gervais' book [="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1598630342/?tag=recording.org-20"]"Home Recording Studio - Build it Like A Pro"[/]="http://www.amazon.c…"]"Home Recording Studio - Build it Like A Pro"[/]
Philip Newell's book [[url=http://="http://www.amazon.c…"]"Recording Studio Design"[/]="http://www.amazon.c…"]"Recording Studio Design"[/]

Another book that I'd recommend is [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.amazon.c…"]"Behind The Glass"[/]="http://www.amazon.c…"]"Behind The Glass"[/]

Best to spend wisely, carefully and slowly.

You can spend a million bucks on gear and still get lousy recordings because your room acoustics stink. Build a decent recording environment as you build your inventory and chops.

You invest in pre-amps and microphones, everything else is a loosing proposition. e.g. you won't get but a 10%-30% return on your dollar if you take it out of the box.

Get decent monitors to start... and forget what anyone tosses out to you as something to just go and buy. LISTEN to them first. Granted, they'll sound a LOT different at home than they will in the store... but at least listen to them.

8" monitor's will give you some decent low end. 10"-16" will give you more low end, but you better have treated your room first. I personally recommend active speakers vs. passive for just starting out.

The really big nasty secret that so easily gets swept under the rug... half of your gear money will go to cables. Again, don't by cheap, but don't go buying $500 power cables either. Middle of the road is fine.

I'd go looking at what you can physically get your grubby paws on. Make a list, post it here after doing a bit of browsing and searching. By buying what you can physically touch, you're liable to get a better deal on it, than buying on the internot. The economy is still tanked pretty hard, so the local guy is prolly willing to eat a bit of profit to get some cashflow.

Get a few back copies of Mix, ProSound News and EM. The past year to two years is fine. Look for reviews of "hot new gear" and be willing to buy some older/last years model gear. You'll likely only own it for a year or two anyway... so why invest good bucks for a known bad investment?? Never made any sense to me. Beware, sales guys are gonna try to hustle you into buying the latest and greatest... DON'T LET EM!

Look at Reaper as an alternative DAW software if you haven't already. Look for free plugs to start out. Then be looking for good plugs over the next coupla' months... McDSP is one of the better values, but get ready to part with some cash... so use the free ones until you can afford good stuff.

And above all else... Good shit ain't cheap, and cheap shit ain't always good.

That should be a sticky for anyone looking to start out Max.

I've followed a lot of your advice (not necessarily on your advice), and also not followed some. Looking back on my short career, it all rings true.