Is there anywhere I can host a small MySQL database fro free? A friend said about it but everytime I look around there are hidden fee's
there's bound to be - I know of one in NZ but it's open to residents only (you could always move - now there's a hidden cost you probably haven't encountered before!) the problem with free anything is that they can shut up shop at a moments notice. If the project is worth your time then it's worth the hosting fee.
It is not worth the time you spend building it and not knowing if site will be around for a while. The work you put into your site is worth more than the cost of hosting so if site goes down you actual lost all your time building it.