JD, allow me to introduce you to a very important aspect of hacking now.
Trash pick, dumpster dive, whatever you want to call it. DO IT!
People allways throw out what I consider profitable and useful treasures. These treasures are also refered to as old vcr units that eat the tapes more than play them, cable boxes, old crashed computers and really anything else that is electronic and salvagable from the trash. All electronic trash can be used for something. VCRs have tact switches and LED lights you can use. Computers have endless amounts of wire, heatsinks, and fans, and most electronics have capacitors and resistors. Everything you find on the board desolder it. organize the parts you have desoldered for when you need them later. If you plan on doing hacking for a while, you WILL need the parts. Also, there are sometimes people who throw out working items. This is more common than you would think. I have pulled from trash cans, one working fan, four vacuum cleaners that just needed smething like a new belt, a stereo, and tons of other stuff I can't think of right now. working items can be cleaned up and sold for money which you can use for hacking. If you are lucky, sometimes a person will be throwing out an old game system. That goes ahead and saves you money for buying a system to portablieze.
Also, ask around. Lots of people have broken stuff they are willing to give away rather than toss it. I have gotten a portable dvd player with AV in that won't read disks, a psp 1001 with a shattered LCD, a few old crashed computers, and tons of television hookups all free.
Now I know that has nothing to do with how to solder, but as you are new to the modding scene, I decided to give you my most valued tip. Trash picking can really save your butt in the end, especially if you are on a tight budget and don't want to pay radioshack for overpriced items.