People have different ideas and opinions vary, these are just mine.
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-I was told by a veterinarian that Beardies canNOT be kept in a rubbermaid container, but I thought they could, can they not?
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I suppose they could be, but I wouldn't myself. The general lack of suitable dimensions is one reason. Heat is another. I always used a basking spot around 120 degrees. This allows the potential for damage to the cage should the heat lamp get in the wrong position. Also they will be damaged by scratching.
I have used an open top cage, 4x2x2 made of wood with good success however. And I have used rubbermaid tubs as nesting boxes, I just wouldn't use them as actual cages.
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-What is the minimal caging requirement for a single beardie?
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For me, I wouldn't keep an adult in anything smaller than a 3x2 cage. Some may consider this too small and I wouldn't really disagree, but I have used this size cage for single adults.
I don't like 55 gallon aquariums, which are often used. They have good length but are only 12 inches wide. I want more width than that for an adult.
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-What is the best bedding for a young beardie? an adult beardie?
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For fresh hatchlings, I never used any bedding. They were reared in a bare tank until they were a couple months old. The tank was cleaned every two days, but it made it easier for them to find the food and when I misted them they would actively drink from the pools that formed on the bottom.
For juveniles I like paper towels, but I always taped the edges with masking tape to prevent the insects from getting under them and hiding.
With the adults I used cypress mulch the most.
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-Is a baby beardie supposed to have a hide? and adult?
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I never used a hide for a beardie at any age. Inclined basking logs and some rocks were the extent of cage furnishings.
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-Do beardies have to be trained sometimes to drink out of a waterbowl (thats what i was told)?
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In my experience a bearded would rarely if ever find standing water in a bowl on its own. I never made an effort to train them to use one, but I have heard of people doing that. I have had them come to a bowl as water was poured in it, being attracted by the falling water. However, the next day they never realized that water was still in the bowl.
I misted daily and 2-3 times a week I would remove them to a rubbermaid tub where I would soak them for 10 or 15 minutes and they would drink then standing in the water.
Generally I never had more than 5 adults at an given time, so with larger breeding groups this might not be practical.
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Are crickets from a local petstore or bait/tackle shop fine to feed?
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Normally they are fine. Those places for the most part get their insects from the same commercial breeders we order from. However it's often not economical. Around here pet shops charge $1 a dozen. There's 88 dozen in a box of a thousand that you can order for $17 or so now.
There's also the option of setting up a roach colony and raising your own food at a very low cost.
basic beardie questions
Realistically, in Australia they are on packed, very hard sandy stuff. However, I prefer paper towel over anything. It's the EASIEST to keep clean. Inexpensive, and the safest substrate. Some argue for sand but some say it causes impaction. We used it. However, our crickets laid eggs in the enclosure and we had hundreds of pinhead crickets climbing around the sand, which meant we had to vacuum up about 10-20 pounds of sand to clean them out... what I'm saying is it's not worth the hassle. 
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