Knowledge is Power. The first thing you need to do is learn about PvP. It can be very scary if you don't know what to expect. I recommend that you start with The Beginner's Guide to Piracy, written by Skira Ranos. You can find the thread in the first few pages of the Crime and Punishment forum. Give it a bump while you're there.

Read threads in the Ships and Fittings forum and the Warfare and Tactics forums. There's a wealth of information there. Although nothing can replace real experience, you can at least go into your next few fights with a better idea of what to expect.

Once you have some theory under your belt, you'll be prepared for the next step: Practice and Training. You may want to look into the PvP classes provided by Agony Unleashed. They are not expensive and are of very high quality. They will take you through all of the basics of combat, and at the end of the class, everyone goes out for a roam looking for targets.

If you are still squeamish about fighting, consider joining the Red vs. Blue group. This is two corporations that are permanently at war, but the combat between them is well regulated and limited to a small set of systems. You can come and go as you please, and from what I understand, they try to arrange fights that are fair and fun. It may be a good way to get some combat experience and get a lot of answers for your questions. Since you can leave at any time, it's a good way to control costs.

Ultimately, PvP costs money. Ships, well fit, are expensive - but you can get a perfectly acceptable frigate for well under 2 million isk and for less than 1 million isk you can still have a viable PvP boat. I have taken out a full T2 fit Punisher with a rifter, using nothing but T1 equipment on a character with less than 900,000 skill points.

Who the heck cares about losing a ship worth 1 million isk, total? That's practically free! If money is your main concern, just fly on the cheap. Stick to T1 frigates and cruisers. These ships, while T1, are still very effective when flown correctly. The Rifter is the ultiamte example of this. The power of the Rifter is incredible - and you can get them for 220k a piece, or less.

Flying in a group can also reduce your risk, and I do recommend flying in small gangs as a way to get some easier kills, learn a LOT, make some friends, and have a ton of fun. You'll probably want to start going solo after a while - I encourage this. It's challenging and winning means so much more when the effort is all your own.

Just accept that you WILL lose ships when fighting. Also accept that Eve is just a game. It's imaginary. When your ship blows up, you're not losing anything real - it's just some rows in a database. Don't be so serious, bro! : > Go out there and have some fun and don't worry!