You're in luck!

> I don't want to spend any real money. Can I still create a cryptocurrency?

> Yes! You can create your cryptocurrency on one of Ethereum's test networks, instead of its main network. First, change the network to Ropsten or Rinkeby in MetaMask.

Viola!

You need the ether for the etherium network to process the smart contract.

You could probably mine the small amount of ether needed