Eagle CAD is one of the most popular E-CAD programs, and is reasonably priced free for personal use. When Libraries, tutorials and examples are made available it is most often in Eagle CAD format.
Once you ready your design and layout (in Eagle) you can get boards made for $30ish (https://oshpark.com/)
You will have to obtain parts and solder yourself for assembly, but your time is free, right? I have done a few. I was a software only person until I started in November 2014 (http://www.spiked3.com/?p=5981)