First: Which "website" should it be? A forum, a video network, a blog, ...
Website: If you like to try everything at your own (for small money) you can rent a domain and a webspace. There you can a) try your own skills in scripting with php and html (basics are easy to learn) and then start with the design css (need more skills) or b) you install a software like ********* on your webspace and start everything with this ;-) Here you wouldn´t learn programing but you can get a nice website without much skills in php or html.
Forum: I prefer a software like "phpbb" or "burningbord lite" (isnt avaible anymore but i still got the installer) ("BBLite") insteat creating your own forum software.
You can also try some free website hoster with ads for a freewebsite to test everything...