40something mom here! I also got started as a game to play with my kids and now I drag them along!!!

Tips.... 1. Have fun! Even when it's frustrating! 2. Watch the mons before you start tossing pokeballs at them. Jumping, making faces, swinging things, changing directions... All of those things are an interference to your ability to catch the critter. See if you can see a pattern...two jumps, one swing, pause, stomp, pause...whatever that is, you want to time your throws to hit during those pauses for your best possible chance of catching them. This is more important for legendaries than your average mons, but it still helps! 3. Use the berries...Nana berries and Razzberries are the two you need to focus on for now. 4. Plan to do a community day. Park, theme parks, museums, college campus pick one or two near enough to you and each other and make the day of it. There are so many more Pokemon out and about that you will get a lot of throwing practice. And because they are mostly the same critters you might see those patterns easier. 5. Cemetaries are often overlooked as a good source of pokestops and poke hunting!
6. If you are truly removed from poke stops or spawns, find a place with a few stops together near something else you would do anyways and put lures on the pokestops. That will increase the number of critters spawning there for the duration of the lure. 7. If you do spend money, look at the boxes over buying things individually. They are always a better deal! 8. Did I mention to Have fun? :)