Greetings Gary,
Well if you're looking to lurk and learn you've come to the right place!
Am pretty sure the lurkers and learners far outnumber the number of actual posters here. I lurked for months before I joined. There is so much information here it can be a bit mind boggling and addictive to poke around through the old threads.
Best wishes on your design and build. I've seen numerous advocates of foamies say that they are a cost efficient way to build so you may want to take a peek there.
http://tnttt.com/viewforum.php?f=55Of course with careful and resourceful shopping and repurposing any design can be made more affordable if a foamie isn't appealing to you.