Need website help

I am in the process of starting my first website and I have to admit I am something of a Luddite. I went to register.com and the name I wanted is a “premium” website I can purchase for over $2K. NOT! Changing it just a little bit brings the price down to almost nothing. A high school student in my community is going to help with the actual construction as part of her required course work. Once in a while I get lucky:-) Money is tight and I want to do something as cheaply as possible. Even a 1 page site is better than no web presence at all. My question to those of you who already have websites is how to do this as cheaply as possible? I figure I can always upgrade the site at a later date. Also, do you have any suggestions as to how to make it more effective? I want to target seniors. What about software for creating the site?

Mine will be the only community in this county that would have a web presence so my hopes are high.

Thanks.

Rolf

Wheat Hill