well i am doin a barb and i started with 5fg and now hes lvl 61 and is doing the arena no probs
u want ee on a weapon this will probly be the most expensiv item imo, for lower lvls str on a weapon can be just as good
u want to aim for over 150str and over 75 dex for your total including eq, i use 25dex armor 24str charm and 59ee axe it work just fine, dex is important u may not want to stat dex but u should hav a good bit on u eq
that said i got lucky and found an axe worth 65fg and sold it when i lvled to get utlimanium axe 59ee
but still u can find solid enough gear for 15fg a peice if u look around, there was a lvl 50 axe with 26ee for 6fg the other day for example on mp
not sure how much magic find u need to get decent drops most ov the time but it helped me get a few items worth small fg
if u do get a good axe life steal becomes more effective than other like life on attack
good luck with u new barb