While an SSD is nice to have because it allows the laptop to boot faster and programs to launch faster, it adds to the cost of the laptop. Best to simply get a standard hard drive to keep the price down which can mean getting laptop with a better CPU / GPU. A hard drive can always be replaced with a SSD at a later point in time.
8GB is preferable, but 4GB generally enough to start with. Most laptops will allow you to upgrade the RAM at a later point in time if it only has 4GB of RAM. RAM is generally inexpensive, but it can vary from country to country. For example, in the US a 4GB stick of RAM is only about $25.