hey, this is my first car, and I just got it a few months ago and the brakes are already making a little squaling noise. Should I get new pads, clean them or what?

 

spork, a little squealing should be no big deal, though if your worried about it most brake shops will give a free estimate for you.
If you are fairly confident in your mechanical abilities, just jack up the vehicle take the tire off and check the thickness of hte pads. If you've never looked at brake pads before its tough to describe though. Our brake pads have a little "tab" on them that when they start wearing down to a certain point the tab begins to touch the rotor and it begins to squeal, thats just to warn you your getting down low so start thinking about swapping out your pads soon. That's good though, otherwise you'd end up with the bad portion of hte pad grinding on the rotor and that would not be a good thing .
Best bet if your not quite sure what your doing is to a) take it to a brake shop and have them tell you how badly you are in need of new brakes, preferably a reputable brake shop that won't try to rip you off or anything or b) find a friend that knows what hes doing and have him show you. This is of course the preferred method.
By the way, I had to replace my brake pads at 35,000 miles. They were worn down to almost nothing. Some have gun 100,000 miles without replacing them. It's all in how you drive.

 

This is VERY general, but, er, in general:
- If they squeal a bit when you are applying them, then don't worry about it. Could be dust or something. Try hosing the sh*t out of them with water thru the spokes of your wheel.

- If they squeal when you are NOT applying them, then this is a wear sensor telling you that it's time to replace the pads.