"Can I reward good answers on this site?" Yes, once you've accrued a (very little) bit of experience, the Vote Fairy will bring you one or more votes each day. Cast them wisely. See the Voting/Experience System superdoc, a kind of FAQ.

"Just writing this reply sorted some things out in my head..." You have just (re-)discovered the "Teddy Bear technique." Talk your problems out with a silent but sympathetic listener and the answers will often spring full blown (or nearly so) as if from (someone's) forehead.

"I think I'll stay away from the advanced stuff for now, I think I should learn OO first." That's probably a matter^*1 of taste and learning style...

...such as the fact that hashes canNOT contain duplicate keys. This, re your observation "There will be some duplicate values, but after looking at the code, I think it will still be okay to use a hash... "

And, not just by-the-way, welcome to the Monastery!

^*1 It is also a topic likely to inspire disagreements as vehement as those surrounding such questions as "how many Angels can dance on the head of a pin?" and "Which is the best editor for programming?"