Hello and welcome to the wonderful world that is Gaia.
BTW, I'm Harley (and yes that is my real name) and I'm also from the UK, so it's good to see a fellow brit here.
Hints & tips: don't get stressed out by the prices of items in the Marketplace (some join Gaia see the prices and run for the hills), take your time and you will be able to get some good stuff from there. Don't bother just yet with your house, car, Alchemy, Achievements (you can get these anytime). I think your main goals will be to get some gold or Gaia Cash (GC), in the Marketplace 1GC = 50,000,000 gold. So I suggest you click on the TV screen by your avatar (avi) and watch some videos and you can get between 1-4 GC, then when they run out click on the tree thingy with blue and white G's to watch & earn more GC (1-5 GC).
Make sure you get all the daily trolleys it's all free stuff, if you get any fish you can put them in your aquarium and get a daily item from it. If you like playing games have a go at all of them as you can get items or gold (booty grab can get you quite a bit of gold), personally I'd go onto Lake Kinard (LK) and get your kin levelled up & fast before the xmas event kicks in. Playing that on one tab and having vids running in another tab can get you GC & gold at the same time. If you do go to LK look at the forum first as you can find out which starter kin is the best and you may find others who have kin to get rid of. Either way focus on getting the best kin levelled up as high as you can quickly.
Oh, look for freebies in ads and in the forums, I've put in a link for one such thread there probably are others. With regards to house, car & such..you generally have to buy things for them and if you are just starting out you may want all the gold for your avatar stuff. Oh yeah, best place to meet others are generally around the towns (towns, towns2, ralley, etc). You can add me if you want. Catcha l8r in the towns.
Lessie's free stuff