Nancy50 -- I do more yarn buying than yarn knitting.

If you get bitten by the yarn bug, you won't need to be pressured into buying stuff. You'll automatically begin accumulating your Knitter's Stash. You'll see a color or texture or a pattern and before long you're sneaking yet another bag of yarn into the house when nobody's looking. Or you'll be standing there looking at plain navy blue acrylic and a total stranger will begin gushing over fuscia and lime green mohair and somehow you'll walk out with a bag of turquoise and burgundy silk AND a new knitting buddy.

Seriously, tho. And this is based on what I've seen happen many times. After you take your first lessons, try not to trade that for on-going free help. If you get to a point in your knitting when you can't figure out what to do, arrange for another paid lesson. A question about reading a pattern is ok. Taking in your knitting because you just can't figure out what's wrong is usually ok. But if your problem will require more than a few minutes of the shop owner's time, ask for a paid lesson. The shop owner will love you.