Reply to Production Hardware Setup

Now that I spend the majority of my time at work and am making some decent money again (at least for the next few months), I can finally look into investing in some new stuff!

I hate to sound cliche, but I want to take my producing to the "next level" (lolz).

Put more seriously, I want a production set up so that I can get a realistic idea of how my music will sound when someone else listens to it.

Currently, I have no soundcard. I have no studio monitors.

Ideally, in the next two months, I'd like to buy a decent, budget-friendly (I still have to pay my school bills) set-up so that I can do what I do better.

This thread isn't a "what soundcard" or a "what monitor" thread. I can make my own decisions as far as that goes. I need to know what I need. Theoretically, I'd have two monitors (one right, one left; duh). However, I have no idea how to get the audio signal to said monitors. Do I need a soundcard? A mixer? I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to hardware.

Thanks guys. Your advice is always much appreciated!