If you just want to use a local llm, using something like gpt4all is probably the easiest. Oobabooga or llama.cpp for a more advanced route.
I use ollama with llama3 on my macbook with open-webui and it works real nice. Mistral7b is another one I like. On my PC I have been using oobabooga with models I get from huggingface and I use it as an api for hobby projects.
I have never trained models, I don't have the vram. My GPU is pretty old so I just use these for random gamedev and webdev projects and for messing around with RP in sillytavern.