You don't need lots of ridiculously expensive kit to make jam. For me, the whole point of jam making is to be as thrifty as possible.
1) Jars - I save all the jars from sauces (eg, pasta sauces, pesto, mayonnaise) to preserves (eg, pickles, jams and chutneys). No jar is too big or too small. I generally save all the nicest jars for gifts and then any jars where I have lost the lid or that are odd shaped I keep for our larder. You can make a lid by cutting out a round piece of cellophane and fixing it with an elastic band. Most labels will come off after a soak in hot water, while others are more stubborn and you may need to use white spirit. To sterilise jars, I put them in the dishwasher rather than in the oven.
2) Pans - there's no need to fork out money for a jam making pan - they can cost upwards of £70! The one I use I paid £7 for in Asda. It's a stock pot so it has the height for allowing the jam to simmer and bubble, and can also be used to strain fruit (you need the height so that you can strain overnight).
3) Strainers - you can buy these fancy cone shaped strainers for making jelly, but I use an ordinary colander and a clean cotton tea towel.
4) Funnels - you can buy special funnels that are wide enough to allow the fruit to pass through, but narrow enough to fit inside the jar. However, I use the top of a 2 litre lemonade bottle (just cut the neck off to make it wide enough for fruit to pass through).
5) Labels - at the moment I'm using ones from my Cath Kidston sticker book, but you could make your own print them off and use pritt stick to glue them on or print on adhesive paper. Alternatively, Martha Stewart has some designs that are free to download and also found some pretty ones here. Another thing I like to do is to use parcel tags and tie them round the rim of the jar.
6) Other things - for jam making there are a few things I like to keep in my stash, particularly gingham fabrics and elastic bands or string to fix the fabric in place. You will also need a pair of pinking shears (try ebay). One piece of kit I do think it's worth investing in is a jam thermometer.
For beginners, I would say raspberry jam is by far the easiest to make (and I think it's one of the tastiest jams!). Raspberries have a high pectin content so you don't need to add anything to them other than granulated sugar. Here is a link to a very good raspberry jam recipe. The key is that the jam must reach setting point in order to be the right consistency (104.5 degrees, this will be clearly marked on a jam thermometer).
