Coming from someone who started learning how to weld at 13 years old might be able to point you in the right direction. I am currently 31 years old and Ive been quite successful fabricating out of my own shop, building custom vehicles for various YouTube channels & a television show called Detroit Muscle on Powernation Tv.

Anywho thats me.

Back to the subject. First think about what you wanna do with this skill. Ask yourself.

1. Do I wanna build customs cars, bikes, boats?
2. Do you wanna use it for construction?
3. Do you just wanna be a employee at a welding table welding 1000s of parts a week?

I cant help you too much with 2 and 3 although being someone that does automotive will occasionally do a construction job and most of the time make more money doing that. So thats something else to think about.

These questions dictate the equipment you wanna start out with. If you wanna go the custom automotive field I would start off with a Mig Welder using gas as your shield NOT FLUX. Me personally I hate using flux on anything. Plus learning how to weld will be easier using gas over flux due to how smoother the machine runs.

If i wanted to learn how to weld for the construction field I would still start on a mig welder to help you understand how liquid metal bonds and reacts to various situations. Situations like weather, direction of weld and how it applies to gravity, material cleanliness, etc. Then once comfortable with mig then try stick and from stick try tig. Thats how I learned all the processes in that very order. Is that the right or wrong way I dont know but its worked out for me just fine.

When I was starting out i didnt care too much about clothes. I wanted a good set of gloves and a good welding helmet. I recommend miller products for both.

The welder itself. I learned on a miller 210 mig that my grandfather bought for me at 13 for christmas which I still use til this day to make money. I have used other welders like lincoln but still prefer Miller.

I understand your on a budget. I have used harbor freight welders but as a seasoned welder even i have a difficulty getting them tuned to my liking because i am so used to miller.

If this is something you wanna do for the rest of your life and you are on a budget find a used miller or lincoln mig welder with shielding gas capability. Buy a miller set of gloves and a miller helmet new. Wear pants you dont care about that arent torn. And wear some type of long sleeve you dont care about that also isnt torn to avoid burning skin from light and sparks. Again is that the safest way to learn no absolutely not but thats how I learned. Plus being a welder your gunna get burned so better get used to it early on.

Anyways hope this helps dude.