starting area characters
 

I was wondering if there's someone in the starting town who can join you and has pick locks. I don't like all those chests that I can't open staying locked.

Or can I return here once I get a rogue type?

You will find a char if you do the normal quests.

There are two NPCs who can join you in that area.

Also, hairpins are the poor man's lockpicks. The guy with the pannier sells them, IIRC. You'll find a rogue very shortly. Talk to the hottie in the middle of the wagon circle to start the quest.

Hairpins have the pro points that they can be found throughout the game and are inexpensive.

Better tools are more seldom & more expensive.

Yesterday I realized something. In the Thieves' Guild I could buy lockpicks at 5 cp each (10 for 5 sp), but they also had the recipe to make them, so I thought it'd be cheaper to make my own. I then went to the workbench, checked the recipe and it needs the second tier of steel, which costs 4s 8c at my 10% discount if I remember correctly (to make 10 lockpicks). Add to that the charcoal (didn't need to buy as I have some from adventuring) and the material cost is almost the same as the merchant price. Why bother?

Perhaps you have opportunities to find all components for free?

perhaps. At this moment all I find are the tier 1 steel all over the place, but only 1 tier 2 steel, maybe when I go to the next stage I'll find them, but for now, buying the materials to craft instead of buying the actual items just doesn't make sense

There are very few items that craft for more than they cost. Almost all the low-mid alchemy potions come out about even. A good source of early money are bear traps. They're fairly cheap to make, not a high skill level, and the items aren't hard to find. You'll make about a ducat or so on each, depending on haggle skill.

If you destroy barrels, you'll find everything you need, in the course of time.
From that perspective, the recipe is really money-saving.