Stamp kits are cheaper on ebay, still around the $40-$50 range. Search for Parallax. In high school I was part of a robotics team and we used one of their processors, and it was pretty kick ass. Keep in mind they use "PBASIC", which just has a few different reserved words and functions, but still crazy simple. When I was at it I never thought of attaching a speaker to see what I could do, but I'm sure it's possible.
But! I'm sure it can be done even cheaper, stamp kits are way more expensive compared to just buying a microprocessor and building the pic programmer. Since you're not really good with soldering you might just want to stick with something pre-built, or learn how to solder from NASA videos!
http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/telescope/soldering.htmMost of the time shitty soldering jobs come from shitty soldering irons. They're super useful, I recently lost mine in a move, but it's worth the $100 when it works for years. Get something with a solder stand, and probably the most important thing is a temperature. Sponges are nice too.
I'm guessing that your trouble comes from too much solder, in which case you can get de-soldering webbing, check radio shack around where you find the solder, there's also a "solder sucker" that looks kind of like a hypodermic needle, but works in reverse. For solder, all I've ever used is rosin core, usually a thin gauge (but not too thin, think of something about 1mm thickish, but it's all personal preference.
Just a thought, since someone else already resurrected the thread.
-wino