I really want to contribute to some questions but StackExchange says I can't answer a question until I have a reputation of at least 5.
How can I get my reputation up to 5?
I really want to contribute to some questions but StackExchange says I can't answer a question until I have a reputation of at least 5.
How can I get my reputation up to 5?
That's not correct. You can post answers and questions starting from reputation 1, which is the starting and minimal reputation. You can't get below it even by downvotes.
See https://tex.stackexchange.com/privileges/create-posts:
What is asking and answering questions?
The most basic privilege of all -- the right to ask a question, and the right to contribute an answer. This is generally available to everyone, regardless of reputation level.
You might have confused this with the privilege to post in Meta which indeed requires 5 reputation: https://tex.stackexchange.com/privileges/participate-in-meta
Why do I need 5 rep to post there?
The following applies to all per-site Metas except Stack Overflow. You do not need Stack Overflow reputation to post on its Meta, and your rep on its Meta isn't tied to the parent site.
This extremly small barrier for posting in Meta is very reasonable IMHO.
I started by asking questions and getting upvotes, so that I never even found myself in the situation of wanting to answer questions before I had the minimum prerequisite reputation, which apparently seems to be 5. However, it does seem to be a bit contradictory with the privileges definition:
What is asking and answering questions?
The most basic privilege of all -- the right to ask a question, and the right to contribute an answer. This is generally available to everyone, regardless of reputation level.
while i agree with martin that a minimum rep of 5 to post to meta is reasonable, i've noticed a number of questions recently that have no up-votes, but were closed as duplicates before anything else happened. that leaves a rank beginner, who's not yet able to suggest any answers, at a disadvantage. of course, a moderator can migrate a question (such as this one) from the main site to meta. is that the best "way out"?