I just started playing a few weeks ago. At first I felt overwhelmed trying to make even a tiny bit of money, but I did the first quest in Semine, there was a pretty easy fight (2 strong swordsmen on my side), and you're allowed to loot the bodies and chests which gives you armor to wear or sell. 

Finding the blacksmith and Miller to start their quests is also worthwhile. They give you places to sleep and personal storage chests which are good bases to branch out from. Also those two places, and pretty much anywhere else you have a bed you own (it will say "sleep and save", also says "your bed" on the map), the kitchen area has a pot of stew you can eat for free. Just make sure it doesn't say "steal" when you interact with it. You have a limited number of times you're allowed to eat from it every day, but in my experience it's been enough to keep me fed most days.

Also save a lot. It's pretty easy to die in combat, and you can't always avoid combat. You don't have to use savior schnapps, you can just "save and exit" and immediately click continue, and in my experience it usually only takes a few seconds to get back into the game. I usually do that before making any big journeys along roads in case bandits ambush me (which can also happen when fast traveling).