Hello @christhebantam and welcome to steemit!
@acidyo offered to help new users who would like to give STEEM as a present here:
https://steemit.com/christmas/@acidyo/help-with-account-creations-for-christmas-presents-100-first-accounts-for-free
So I suggest you see if he can help you set up accounts for your family and some friends for free :)
As for buying STEEM: Currently you still have to buy with bitcoin, ethereum or Litecoin. I personally have used Coinbase.com to buy a little bit of Bitcoin (not a lot) and then transferred it to bittrex.com where I used it to buy STEEM that I then transferred to steemit.com. Worked very well for me.
easier ways to buy STEEM should be coming next year (early in the year I hope), but it is not available at the moment.