Pagetta,
If you are working for, or own outright, the 3 websites on your tag line then you and/or your associates most likely are already using a database. If so, then the database most likely uses SQL. That'll give you a leg-up learning mySQL. There are tons of websites that use mySQL and the owners dont have to know SQL cuz it's all installed and configured seamlessly as part of an ecommerce or cms package. If you can find a packaged php/mySQL solution that meets your needs then you are in luck. If your data is of a unique nature then you, or someone on your staff, should really take a primer in relational database concepts. Without a good working knowledge of RDB (relational databases), it is easy to get stumped in trying to write SQL to get your data reported the way you want. You may write SQL that you think works but actually delivers erroneous results. You may write inefficient SQL that makes your website very slow. You may write DML (data modification language) SQL to insert, update, or delete data, that ends up corrupting your data. A poorly designed and implemented RDB will hurt rather than help you. I've outsourced some of my work to Elance firms and been disappointed in their SQL knowledge as evidenced in their deliverables. So I now have to write detailed specs for them, including a full set of DDL (data definition language) SQL for any new tables. At any rate, you have to QA all of the work of anyone who is charging you only $10/hr.