My suggestion is, don't start with difficult soldering jobs. Instead, start with something easy, such as a kit that's intended to teach old school electronic as

My suggestion is, don't start with difficult soldering jobs. Instead, start with something easy, such as a kit that's intended to teach old school electronic assembly. For instance, something like a guitar pedal. Or, solder to the relatively plump terminals of IC breakout boards before trying to solder the IC's themselves. I learned soldering by playing around with electric guitars, amps, cables, etc. Once you're ready to move up to more difficult things such as PCB repair and surface mount, you'll have acquired the basic skills and knack. At the basic level, all you need is a soldering iron, some solder, and basic hand tools that you already have if you're into tinkering. The rest of the stuff can come later as needed. Don't overlook taking a community college course. You'll have access to the latest equipment without having to own it.