please take a minute to help a complete new guy

i just bought a completely stock 98 civic ex. i know what i want, but i dont have a clue where, what brand, how much money, or what order to do things in. ive tried to read up on the topic as much as possible but as i feared i find conflicting info and opinions everywhere.

i think i would like to get new rims, lowering kit, tint windows, tail lights, exhaust, decals, and possibly a body kit. but maybe not in that order and certainly not all at once. i dont want to get too out of control. im 20 years old and this is going to be a daily driver to work/college so i cant afford to put it in the garage for the winter.

here are some specific questions i have about the things i want to purchase.
rims: the only kind i have heard consistently positive things about are momo's. but the $300/each price is kind of making me want to look elsewhere. what size will fit my civic?
lowering kit: what exactly is included, how low is too low, and who makes them
tail lights: just brand names that i can try to look up would help here.
exhaust: what wouldnt be too loud, would have a nice deep sound at low rpms, and wont give me a headache on the highway? and who makes them.
tint: how much should i be looking to spend or is it possible to get decent results doing it yourself?
decals: how are they applied and can i do them myself?
body kit: is there anything out there besides wings west?

the problem is i type "honda civic" into google and i get 50,000 classified ads. took me a week just to find this place (which i like so far).

i wont need too much technical info. i have a gearhead father who can help with the manual work, but hes more into his corvette and the classic muscle cars so this stuff is foreign to him.

im going to keep reading these forums, but if you have a minute to help out a new guy please reply. i ask that you not abbreviate everything seeing as i dont even know the original words.