What are some easy somewhat inexpensive modifications that might make my car run better, something I could do myself to get a feel for my car? I thought someone might have a suggestion or two.

#1, buy a K&N air filter and install it. Go a step further and punch some holes in your airbox to let it breath better. Or you can go with a cone-style filter and get rid of the airbox altogether. Cost? $50.

#2 Change your Thermostat to a 180°. Stock is 195°. Add a tranny cooler, even if you already have one. This saves alot of heat wear on the engine, and cools the intake. Better efficiency and power. Cost? $50.

#3 Buy a new pair of shoes and 6 pounds of fishing weights. Melt down the weights, and pour them into holes drilled into the sole of the right shoe. This makes the gas pedal go down further. Cost? Priceless.

#1 and #2 require a very limited collection of tools and expertise....but will be a good start towards getting familiar with your beast. The intake is usually the #1 mod people do. Best bang for your buck....performance and efficiency-wise. #2 is the greatest amount of insurance you can buy, but since winter is setting in, you could wait til next spring for that one.

Thanks Will! I was looking for something small to start with that way I can get used to the car and then move on to the bigger and better.

Good plan Will... couldn't have said it better myself

But your still a crazy alcohol I.V. Injecting Loonie Toone... ha ha ha..

Not yet, but the wiring is complete! Had it squirting yesterday.....needs a bit of tweaking, but we're CLOSE!

Will is right about most people adding an intake first. It'* what I did. I bought one of those pro zen motorsport intakes on ebay. More like a ram air intake (take your headlight out when you professionally drag race for even MORE performance).
Strangly I went straight toward exhaust after that. But I had a guy at a mechanic shop I'm in good relations with cut me some deals and he did it for me (custom exhaust).

Something SUPER easy is to change your plug wires, I went the extra mile and put on some MSD Superconductors, but Bosch will do just fine. If you don't know much about cars and are willing to get cut and burned, change your sparkplugs as well. I've changed them multiple times because I just test different plugs:

1.) AC Delco - Good
2.) NGK V-Power - BAD
3.) Splitfire - Excellent

So go out and spend dinero and have fun making your current sleeper into a DEMON!