Both vehicles will be absolutely fine for a beginner. As a matter of fact, any crawlers will be absolutely fine for beginners. Crawlers are purposely slow moving machines. For this reason, the learning curve is very, very low. Even if you ran them full speed into a wall, there's not likely to be any damage. Even if they take a straight drop from 2ft up, it's unlikely going to cause any detrimental damages.
A 1/10 scale will need big space. Crawling around in your backyard over your wood pile will get boring very, very quickly. Most people's backyard are perfect for a 1/24.
However, in your case, it's going to come down to budget. You simply don't have the budget, at this point, to be able to modify and truly enjoy a 1/10 to it's full potential.
Members here have been recommending, over and over, for you to get an SCX24. There's a reason for that. They are outstanding crawling machines!