Can't afford to hire someone.. I record and publish one new track every 3-4 months and then put it up in youtube with a still pic. That's getting old. Would like to do better than that? What software can I buy and start teaching myself? 

I just use Windows Movie Maker. It's free, easy to use and cranks out good quality. You can then use Handbrake (also free) compress and save to various other formats.
 
There are ton of other free video editors out there too that are more "professional/traditional" style programs with more fancy options but if you're just slapping together some vids for youtube WMM is totally fine.
 
No need to pay for anything or break your brain trying to learn the expensive higher end programs is my point.
 
Cheers.

I got Sony Vegas a few years back and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to get started. Drag and drop WAV files, vid clips and stills, add fx, all quite intuitive.

I'll second the use of Vegas. You may not want or need the Pro versions but they are very powerful.
 
There are trial versions.
http://www.sonycreativeso...om/moviestudio/compare
 
 

While it does look like Vegas will be getting updated again due to the sale of the product line, I switched to iSkysoft's Video Editor for Windows:
 
https://www.iskysoft.com/video-editor-windows.html
 
I had been using Cyberlink's PowerDirector for years, and in fact owned to top-of-the-line suite with all of their apps, but got REAL tired of them. I will spare you and others the ugly details, except to say: avoid like the plague.
 
VE for Windows is currently $40 v $50. For what you get, it's money really well spent.
 
There's a free trial, if your interested.
 
Edit: To be honest, their sale price seems to be permanent. That's what I paid last September. Ha! It's still a great value.

DrLumen
I'll second the use of Vegas. You may not want or need the Pro versions but they are very powerful.
 
There are trial versions.
http://www.sonycreativeso...om/moviestudio/compare
 
 

I grabbed the Suite a coupla years ago for $80 on Amazon.  Works great for my wife's use.

Avoid anything that says Cyberlink or even rhymes with it. The editing is cool but the rendering is a crap fest.
 
I don't mind Adobe Premeire Elements, it's worth a look for sure.
 
cheers,
-Tom