I second that.

A refridgerator pump works as a good vacuum source. Just connect to the suction side of it and plug it in. I use a venturi pump that uses air from my air compressor shooting through a tiny orifice. A small port on the backside of the orifice pulls a vacuum as the air shoots through. A good one of these is only about $70...but requires a pretty healthy compressor to feed it.

Vacuum bagging produces much stronger laminates than laying things up under atmospheric pressure. It squeezes out a good bit of resin resulting in a much higher fiber density (which is where the strength is). Also, when using a core material (foam, balsa, etc.) it really promotes excellent bonding to the core which exponentially increases the strength of the layup. If you pull just -10 psi (20in-hg) to a 1 sq foot object, it's applying 1440lbs of pressure to the outside of the object perfectly perpendiular to all the surfaces. That's a lot of pressure!