You are right that stock photos are a waste of money if you are building for personal projects, but there are plenty of free stock photo websites:
http://deathtothestockphoto.com/ is a good choice
Buy a template from websites like themeforest or wrapbootstrap (google them) or the free templates on bootstrap’s website: http://startbootstrap.com/.
Start making things and eventually study the pattern in which these simple templates are made.
Great resource: http://www.webdesignrepo.com/
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solved Stock images for web design [closed]