Hey littletomato, i'm probably one of the last people to help you out because i'm also completely new to mods. But I feared the same things like you did not long ago before trying them, i also thought it would be too difficult, game-breaking, etc etc. BUT if you're following the install instrucitions of the mods and with the help of a few simple guides and the sacrifice of many hours for learning and testing, i installed almost 100+ mods for Skyrim (i know it's not really much, but we're talking about a newbie here) and it runs smoothly, the only crashes i get also appear in vanilla version (like spawning too many bears at once). I also managed to edit and fix basic light stuff in the game files like for example change a skin texture or even create a small mod like a new race - with honestly 0 progamming or modding skills. The thing is, you need to understand what each mod is doing, editing etc. Then you can get the right load order and also often to the source of a crash if one happens - and maybe one day you will create your own mods. Hope my half-knowledge helps you a bit.