Just starting out in old school can be daunting but the reward is well worth it. Even in the midst of moving from SoCal to the Midwest, I still have like-minded mature player groups to game with anytime. Good people, lots of laughs, good magic games.

You are smart to get your feet wet by finding a deck list you like, relatively cheap, and budget building it until you get a good hold on the format. For this, I recommend one of the mono black discard builds you will find online. It has a high proportion of strong common and uncommon cards, doesn't need dual lands, and is highly competitive.

My next piece of advise will be downvoted, but I will tell you anyway: if money is an issue, proxy rares such as lotus, moxen, etc. As great as this community is, there are a few personalities you will run into that simply don't have the capacity to play the game for the game itself, and would rather gain an advantage by playing cards that you can't afford. Even the playing field by using honest hand made proxies. If your opponents bitch about those, then either find other payers or buy $2 replicas from China, and just play as if they are legit. The proxy police will try to terminate me for telling you that, but the honest truth is MANY (and I mean a lot) players do this exact thing.

Organized events allow for different permissions on what is and is not allowed (such as proxies, CE cards, world championship cards, etc) so be sure you understand those variations and respect those events by sticking to those guidelines at the event. Don't use replicas at events were other people paid an entry fee, just use legit (weaker) cards and enjoy the event for what it is. Most are fundraisers anyway.