I’ve been in the hobby for 15 years. The best advice anyone can give you here is to find a local amateur radio club and get involved with them. they will be the best ones to help you along in the hobby and can often find you very low cost or free gear. That is how I acquired my Mosley tribander and other pieces of radio equipment. The great thing about amateur radio is it can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be.
Thanks, I am looking into a local club. They just dont meet very often.
Free and cheap ham radio projects list by WA5VJB
http://www.wa5vjb.com/references.html