Been lurking for months; you finally drew me in to sign up for an account with a car question...
You're right all the things you mention are normal wear and tear. If you're new to working on cars gets a manual (Chilton, Clymer's, etc) and look up any of the maintenance items on YouTube - that should go along way to getting you started. As far as parts go, if you sign up for Advance Auto's email they'll send out some good coupon codes. Normally, I just order parts from Rock Auto as they tend to have a better selection of OEM (original equipment manufacturer) brands - if you check the interwebs they also normally have a 5% off code.
When we last swapped cars the vehicle would have been worth less than $1K if in good condition - it, however, needed a clutch, tires, alignment, and engine rebuild - sometimes it's a no brainer. With car maintenance it's a steep learning curve, and you do have the advantage of putting things back together being pretty much the reverse of having taken them apart; you'll do great!