To add to your addition, Chris's Fix on Youtube has videos for a lot of the common things you'll need to do on a car & he also mainly only uses hand tools to try and keep his content approachable for the average person.
YouTube in general is a fantastic resource for stuff like this.
Too add to the comment: the biggest issues I've experienced usually isn't replacing the actually piece I need to replace, but accessing the piece i need to replace and learning how to do certain things.
To change my water pump, I had to creatively figure out a way to hold a rotating piece, while also loosening a bolt on it. After taking 30ish minutes looking for ways to do so, I can now do it in like 5 minutes.
I also had to learn that lowering my engine makes the above easier which required a specific set of tools to make the job possible/faster.
You should be able to use a c-clamp to push back the piston. The only specialized tool I bought related to changing brakes was the tools for installing and uninstalling the drum brakes.
Even those aren't necessary but they do help and I've done my brakes enough where the extra cost is worth the time and frustration I save personally.