Would it be possible to do your initial testing/learning in a VM on your laptop or desktop, then move to a vps later?
I'm doing testing right now of semi-automated disaster recovery/migration in a vm on my laptop, of a web app currently on a vps. If something goes wrong or I want to start over, I just delete the vm and clone a new one that's prepped with the OS and login I want. It's amazingly wonderful compared to the old days before easy vms.