Making my own TOTT kit

My girlfriend and I are new to geocaching and have been loving it! I’ve noticed a few of the caches we have found so far have been a little hard to retrieve without TOTT. On geocaching.com they sell kits, but I think $48 is a bit much for what’s being offered, especially with this being a new hobby to us. If i knew we would continue caching for a long time I wouldn’t have a problem splurging a bit. Are the kits actually worth the money? Should I just create my own? What all should I include in my DIY kit? What are the absolute essentials?