Usually someone in the family is interested in family history. Most older people are happy to help when younger relatives show interest in the family. If your parents or grandparents aren't living, great aunts and older cousins often can help you fill in some of the blanks on your charts. Having achieved this beginning, decide what you need to know next. You can work on the illustrious line concurrently, of course.
Copies are usually cheaper from the county than from the state.
If money is a problem, just start by copying all the information and make a note of where they were issued and any serial numbers, so you can get a copy later. The ongoing expenses are stationery, postage, and xeroxing, and they are pretty small. Most of your research will be done in a genealogy library more about that next issue which usually costs nothing. The books I recommended below should be available at the nearest genealogy library, or the general library. I have not included non basic expenses such as computers more about them in a later issue or trips to places one's ancestors lived, such as mounting safaris to remote African villages.