MK7,
Sorry to hear that your first attempt was costly, but then again they usually are when someone tries on their own. I can tell you this much, if you're not willing to join the club you are not likely to find an instructor to help you out. First of all, if you are that close to an organized existing club there is a good chance that you may interfere with another pilot on the same frequency as you are on, on they my interfere with you and cause you to crash. Most instructors are only going to teach you if you join and attend their club. As was said above, the cost of instruction is normally free so it would be well worth it for you to join the club. And besides that, joining a club puts you in contact with other modelers that share the same love for this hobby that you may already have. My closest friends came from the flying field, even though our friendships extent well past the flying field that is where I initially met them in the first place. Lastly, before you continue please join the AMA, [link=http://www.modelaircraft.org]AMA website[/link] . You will more than likely need to join the AMA in order to join a club. Plus the AMA has liability insurance that can protect you in the event that you injure another person or cause property damage with your plane, but please know that the AMA insurance won't protect you unless you are flying within guidelines set out in the AMA Safety Code.

I know I may sound like a broken record here, but joining the club will probably be the one best thing you can to do help yourself learn to fly. Most clubs will have training times set out where the only flying allowed during those times are people that are learning to fly.

Ken