For me I like to keep my soap recipes VERY simple. At most I tend to use three oils in various ways: beef tallow, olive oil, and coconut oil. My base recipe is either 100% olive oil or 100% tallow, though you'll get best beginner results from a combination of olive oil and coconut oil. Case in point, the recipe I have for the Dead Sea mud soap:
200g coconut oil
300g olive oil
74.28g sodium hydroxide lye
165g water
And then I just add whatever fragrance or colorants I want. Figure out what is available to you cheaply and create recipes based on that! Brambleberry/Soap Queen is a fantastic resource for absolute newbies.
Personally I adore NOW Foods essential oils, Authentic Oil Co., Brambleberry, and Mystic Moments essential oils. Those are the best 4 brands I've used for the price.
@daxigait