The others have very accurately answered your question already, so I'll just add my thoughts and be on my way...

IMO, daisy chaining switches with a single router is not always a bad way to go. In my house where we throw 16+ LANs, it's not convenient to have 1 switch and a ton of long runs. Instead, we have a primary 4 port gigabit router and 4 separate gigabit switches that run to each table. Yes, some could argue that you're creating a small bottleneck in performance, but I promise it's nothing you'll notice. I find that having several smaller switches and only 4 long runs creates less of a mess than having 16 runs all coming out of the same switch.

I highly recommend looking into getting a few of these TrendNet switches. They go on sale ALL THE TIME! Watch SlickDeals and you should be able to grab one for around $20.

And finally, don't be afraid to ask your friends to help chip in for the switch and wires. That shit can get expensive and there's no sense in you taking that burden alone.