I understand your being discouraged, but would hate to see you give up on it and you this early. There is a learning curve and I really believe once you have success with simple things an then move on to more complicated, you will be so glad you kept trying.
You could, just as an experiment, get some cricut blade so try - they do work and are great for practicing and then you won't feel like you are wasting money on good blades. And I would try some very simple images first and get the feel of it. I now the letters don't seem like a big deal, but once you get the hang of pressure and speed with basic cuts, you may find the letters cutting better.
And be sure your mat is sticky and that you are brayering your paper down -that will also change the quality of your cuts.