Steer clear of options until you are very, very successful with trading stocks. As aiki14 has said, most options contracts expire worthless, which means that most option traders loose all of their investment.
As for simulators, they are worthless as you do not get the real feel for having skin in the game like you do when you have your hard earned dollars on the line. Trade small until you get the feel for it, and if you have to worry about the commissions, then you should not be risking the money anyway.