I updated some modules on my site this weekend, mostly on my own because I'd taken notes the last time through. I had to ask for help a few times, and it seems like some steps change a bit from time to time, but if you are a novice on the command line sick of being totally dependent on a programmer friend or partner, see if this will work for you for updating your Drupal site:
Note: these instructions are for someone like me, who has down this a few times, but with someone holding her hand the whole time, but who does know how to wget and tar –zxvf, even if she messes up the order of the letters sometimes.