We were all beginners once and had the same questions and concerns. As for help getting started, a suggestion I've read elsewhere is to check out local community colleges or vocational schools that may offer beginning photography courses. You might also go to your local library and see if they have back issues of any of the photo magazines. They sometimes run articles on beginning B&W subjects.(posted 9628 days ago)The actual cost of getting started can vary from practically nothing to lots more than you have, but getting with a camera club or a school program will put you around people who can give specific advice on specific equipment. Once you have a darkroom set up (or just available, if you can find a school program with a darkroom) the actual cost of producing prints is modest compared to color work. Using B&H prices for film and paper I've bought recently, a 36 exposure roll of TMax 400 is $2.59 and a sheet of 8x10 RC paper from Kodak or Ilford is just under 35 cents in boxes of 100 (about 31 cents in boxes of 250). The cost of developing chemistry is calculable but small, and the cost per roll or print can depend almost as much on the dilutions you choose and whether you use the chemistry to its full capacity as on the original cost of the chemicals. In short, apart from the initial capital investment, you should find the cost of making an 8x10 black and white print to be considerably below the cost of a good 8x10 color print, and you get the fun of doing it yourself.