I am using sql, not sure how to add what I need to it though I am thinking at this point just a products lookup table (list) and adding a product id to exisiting alerts table will give me flexibility enough to move forward, can you recommend any good resources on sql, seems like most sites about sql are either too basic or too advanced can't find a nice middle of the road introductory site.
Your best resource is the DBI module. With it, you can do SQL queries at your current level of understanding and do the rest in Perl. As your knowledge of SQL gets more sophisticated, you can upgrade your code to take advantage of the database engine capabilities.
I've always found it easier to learn by example too. MySQL Cookbook may be the middle ground you seek.