You can buy all kinds of necessities cheap on AliExpress for $1.99 or when they have sales every month for $1.79 this special section only available on there mobile app. Also most cities have food-banks or some churches giving out free food and clothing. There is also a Freecycle.org community kind of like craigslist but for free stuff.
When you just starting in linux and thinking of switching this can be a good thing. I think its better for users to choose and learn on there own instead of recommending them specific distro.
I recommend first installing something like Virtual Box on Windows than google which linux distros are most popular, most maintained and has a good documentation and community to help you when you are stuck. Than pick 3-5 from best once and install them on your Virtual Box and play with each. Than based on your personal experience choose one that works best for you. After that you can install it as dual boot or as your main os.