There's always cheap species you can start with, the most affordable probably being Chinese Mantises. They are a great way to learn how to breed an intermediate species. There's never a guarantee with any species that you will be able to breed them, or that the ooth will hatch nymphs since random stuff tends to happen with mantises all the time. If you're tight with money I would suggest starting with an easier species such as Ghosts (P. Paradoxa) or an affordable species like T. Sinensis, M. Religiosa, S. Carolina if you want to try your luck with something a little harder. The ooths are readily available from a lot of breeders here or on Ebay, plus you will get experience hatching ooths and raising very young nymphs. Not sure why a lot of people aren't amazed by Chinese Mantises, they are actually really amazing if you pay attention to them. They are the only species I have right now that will do backflips and jump from hand to hand when I make a ladder for them. There's huge color variation in them and they are less finicky about food than most species and they have a very curious nature. I never cease to be amazed at how much larger they grow with each molt.
It's generally hard for people to "front" rare mantises. Most people don't have enough pairs for themselves. Some of my species I wouldn't even sell if people offered me money. And upkeep money for breeding is actually pretty important too (like Pooka mentioned). I constantly need more cash myself to upgrade enclosures, maintain feeders, and such. Also (no offense meant here), there is really no guarantee for any breeder that you will do all the work and then pay for it. It's hard enough to find someone to send a missing gender in exchange for ooths/money.
Anyway you might get lucky if you post what type of species you're interested in. I might have several pairs of T. Sinensis soon, I haven't really bothered sexing them so I'm not sure what the gender ratio is. I cannot give away any of the species that I've been selling since it would be unfair to anyone who paid money for them, but these guys I've only been giving out for fun so if you want I may be able to give you a pair in the near future.
That being said, I still suggest raising them from ooth first will be a much better experience. That way you get to familiarize yourself with things like making fruit fly cultures, hatching fly pupae, breeding feeders (unless you want to spend a lot of money buying them), and controlling your mantises (because to be successful at breeding you will need to be able to separate a pair that starts fighting immediately, and if needed with your bare fingers). As everyone here has taught me so so so well, patience pays off in this hobby and you will need a lot of patience when it comes to breeding these guys.
