[huhnmonster]

I can tell you what I did, coming from a somewhat similar but different situation. I kind of over-promised for a small project, thinking that some electronics and little code could not possibly be too hard. After some time I realized that if I had to do the stuff around 50 times (project was a small sensor network), I would be stuck soldering for a few weekends. Then decided that maybe learning some ECAD along the way and getting PCBs manufactured would be cool, albeit totally overkill.

I cannot recommend Phil's Lab [1] enough. He has videos which take you from basically an empty sketch to ordering a finished board in around 2.5 to 3 hours. Some of the most worthwhile content I have found on YouTube to date.

Also, get a multimeter and an oscilloscope. Any oscilloscope will do probably, I have one from Amazon for 30$. For my project, it totally does the job, although you may want to invest a bit more here if you intend to use it for more advanced projects. You cannot believe how many times being able to look at a signal has helped me understand where my problem could be and what might be wrong. It has also helped me figure out what questions I had to ask. For simple projects, you are always going to get there by guessing I suppose, but why make it hard on yourself.

Aside from that, just try things. It is probably helpful to spend more time thinking when you are handling more expensive parts, so you do not burn a couple of them out because of carelessness, but also, don't overthink it.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/c/PhilS94/videos