[Brum (Andrew)]

I got into astronomy a few months ago. I got a book and star chart for my birthday and about 4 weeks ago I bought a pair of binoculars and another book (specialising in binocular based astronomy).

I am now close to purchasing a telescope and am just trying to gather some more info before i make the purchase.

I am looking at getting:
GSO 12" Newtonian (it does fit in my car)
Bintel Nebula Contrast Filter
Barlowed Collimator
Telrad

Basically i'd like to know if there is anything else you'd recomend getting. Also I try to go and observe when time allows, but apart from being able to spot constellations I am unable to do much more, I havn't been able to find a single object in my binoculars (bar planets). I basically want to know is this because i'm observing from my backyard in suburbia or because I suck at finding stuff?

EDIT: Are objects easier to find when using a telescope?

Before you say anything, I'm not going to join an astronomy club (not this year anyway)

Kind regards, Brum