If your PC or laptop has a "mic input," all you need is a mic and the adaptors to change connectors from the mic to the computer - XLR to 1/4 inch balanced, to 1/8 inch balanced (or unbalanced if necessary). Balanced 1/4" and 1/8" jacks have TRS (tip, ring, sleeve), like typical headphone jacks.

Your computer, if bought within the last year or so, should have enough software already in it to at least record your voice and acoustic guitar.

If you want to step up another degree or two, buy Cubase LE for a hundred bucks (it comes free with many things, including Presonus Firebox or Inspire).

If you want to record your voice and the guitar at the same time, either move the mic away from you 'til you find a good spot for both to sound good, or get a second mic, or stereo mic.

There has been a ton of great music that has been recorded with some VERY primitive gear. Start small, learn how it works, then get the next thing...

Outside of a decent PC, what you need is a decent mic or 2, decent mic pre amp, and a software program that'll allow multi-track recording and mixing, and a decent PC that will handle what you want to record. But as said in the beginngin, a PC and a mic should get you started.

Recording is a double edged sword. It is typically walking the line between "need" and "want." The difficult part is to decide where that line is!!

More importantly, as I have heard many times, it is the journey that you should enjoy!!

Cheers!

You can start the experience of multitrack recording by using a software like Reaper by Cockos, download it from this link:

http://www.cockos.com/reaper/

It is an unlimited and unrestricted software, but you are asked to buy the licence at 39.95 $ is use continues (it's up to your ethic sense...).

Then, if you wish to record both guitar and vocals with one only mic, you will need a condenser mic, as it can be positioned enough far away to get both sounds (while typically a dynamic mic has to be positioned close to the source of the sound). The bad news is that a condenser mic usually needs phantom power, which is easily found on most mixers / amplifiers / audio interfaces. The good news is that if you use a multitrack soft, you can you a dynamic mic to record the guitar first and the vocals afterwards.

There are many appreciable condenser or dynamic mics at a low budget prices. Ask your retailer. By experience, my suggestion is: AKG C3000B (condenser), SHURE SM58 or BETA58 (dynamic). These will remain part of your stuff even when you became a famous sound engineer!! Look also at the PG series by Shure: http://www.shure.com/ProAudio/Products/WiredMicrophones/index.htm

An alternative is to get a USB mic: this technology has been developed recently with the purpose of serve home computer recording. Samson has a good one.
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Good luck and enjoy!