"new to triathlons"

Welcome! 

I started in the sport just this past July, with my first race in Sept....I'm now 100% hooked and love everything about it! Doing my first full Ironman distance in July of this year!

I found a local triathlon group on meetup.com with whom to train early on. You'll find the whole tri community to be very friendly and happy to help. (also check the forum here on BT for your state/region.)

You can easily spend a ton of money on equipment....most, me included, started with used or even borrowed equipment to keep the initial cost down while you decide if the sport is truly for you or not.

I purchased my neighbor's old road bike to get started...it was a bit big for me, but the price was right to get my feet wet. I borrowed his wetsuit the week before my first event so I could do one open water swim in the wetsuit before the race. I did buy cheap road bike shoes and a tri top and shorts that were on sale at a local shop. 

Craigslist, eBay and the Classified section here on BT can/should become your friends too. (I found a great deal on Craigslist for both my current tri bike and my race wheels...but only got these after doing 4 triathlons on the old bike and knowing I was in this sport for the long haul!)

Don't think you need to spend a bunch of money to have fun as you don't! 

I spent time reading posts here, watching YouTube videos for swim and bike advice (I was a decent runner so I didn't need much there) and asked questions of anyone I trained with or ran into while out riding or running.

Good luck to you and have fun!