As with any language, learning Spanish requires a great deal of time and effort. The less time you can devote to learning, the slower you will be to grasp new concepts and sentence structures. If you feel you can't dedicate time to learning, it's perhaps a bad idea for you to consider trying to learn at the moment. If, however, you feel you could spare around an hour a day, you will be amazed at your vocabulary by the end of a month, and within six months, you could easily be speaking fluently.
The best approach to learning a language like Spanish is to consider how a child learns English. Start with the basics; numbers, letters of the alphabet, days of the week. Learn the basic vocabulary and most importantly write down everything you learn with an English definition accompanying. This will enable you to produce your own reference guide to refresh your memory, and allow you to chart your progress over time.
Another good way to improve your Spanish skills is to read in Spanish, or listen to Spanish broadcasts. Of course this will be very difficult for a beginner, but if you can find English subtitles, this would help you to make a connection between the sounds and sentences structures of Spanish, which you could transpose into your own thinking. Additionally, visiting Spain or a Spanish-speaking region to try out your skills might also be beneficial, as this could help you practice your skills first hand and develop the necessary analytical skills to converse freely.
Learning Spanish requires time and dedication, but if you use your investment wisely, you will soon see the benefits. Within weeks you should be structuring complex sentences and contemplating your own punctuation, and within several months you should be able to write and structure prose. If you're dedicated enough, you'll see the results sooner than you think, and you won't really have to spend a penny when learning from home.