Noob tooling advise.

[Larry$]

I use steel banding that comes on bundles of lumber we get. Cut a piece and bend it into a spring to hold the thin parallels against the vice jaws.
1/4" parallels can be moved in to provide clearance for drilling near edges. They easily stand with out support. They can also be laid flat to support V blocks over the gap in the vice.
I don't remember if the little stops that attach to the top edge of the vice jaw have been suggested or not. But I find them very handy. Very quick to set.
I have a 2nd cheapy vice that I will setup to support long work where I'm going to be machining over a considerable distance on the work.