For grouping, you want to hit up popular areas, preferably dungeons since they have EXP bonuses that outdoor zones don't. You could go to the Greater Faydark and group on Orc Hill until level 5 or 6, and then go to Crushbone. Alternatively, you could stick around the Freeport area and group at the orc camps and then head over to Befallen; you should gain some levels before the orc camps, though, if I recall correctly.
You need to buy your spells from the druid merchants. The prices can be daunting early on, but if you're smart with your money, you can make the amount you need. Kill decaying skeletons for bone chips (you'll find a lot in North Ro near Freeport) and sell stacks for 5-10pp each to necromancers and shadowknights. Kill bears and sell high quality bear pelts to tailors for 10pp each. Kill spiderlings and sell stacks of spiderling silks to players for I think 5pp per stack, though I don't recall the exact going price. And sell any cloth armor or rusty/splintering/cracked weapons you find on humanoids/undead to merchants (as long as you don't need the stuff to equip yourself); cracked staves in particular sell for 1pp each.
Questing in EQ is pretty limited if you're looking for useful results. You can generally ask around and find out which, if any, quests are useful to you in your level at your location. If you're hunting orcs near Freeport, you can hand in their belts in Freeport for EXP and faction (and possibly other rewards; haven't done those in a long time); if you're hunting orcs at GFay or Crushbone, you can hand belts and shoulderpads in in Kaladim for EXP, leather, and a little money, or sell them to players for 1pp per belt or 2pp per pad (this is for rich players who want to get out of those early levels fast by doing the quest a ton of times).
I for the most part agree with the above post by Rahnza, except to recommend that you avoid outdoor zones like East Commonlands, North Ro, and Oasis for grouping since they don't have the EXP bonuses of dungeons. They're fine for soloing, though, since soloing is often very hard in a dungeon.
Oh, and make sure you train the Meditate skill at level 8.
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