Never use the premade spells you can buy - the spells you can make will always be more efficient. By far the most important thing for you is to get access to the Spell Maker.

The lowest a spell can cost is 5 magicka. The cost of your spells goes down as your skill level in the governing schools go up. Mages can become extremely powerful, but it's a slow start. Also beware that slowfalling down a hole has at least a 40% chance of clipping you through the wall into the void, so between that and the climbing trick be prepared to savescum a bit. Beware that they're only one-time buffs however, so you need to make use of them immediately. I've never seen a blind fall without such a buff nearby. It's very likely you're missing a temporary levitation or slowfall buff. Otherwise, activate every single chain, torch, or other doodad you can find near the hole. Once you see 'Climbing Mode Activated' let go of it then start holding it again, with the goal of dropping down slightly more each time and taking less fall damage. Face exactly in a cardinal direction (test against a safe wall nearby to be sure you're at the right angle) then run as fast as you can and hold the forward key. If you're lucky and your climbing skill is high enough, you may be able to get around that by trying to catch the wall as you fall, as in pic related. You might miss them if your browser or plugin has a video control bar blocking it since it's at the very bottom edge of the webm. He clicks the intersections to show the notes along the bottom, as >2725845 said. Nah, it doesn't have any visual effect inside the dungeon itself.

Daggerfall eye of argonia