What's the name of the exchange you're using? You should have mentioned the name so that it would be easy, at least we would check to see if there's anything you're doing wrong or if it's just the way it is. Maybe you should make use of the top exchanges if that's not what you're using. For a starter (since you're still a newbie) I would recommend Coinbase, that's the easiest exchange you can use and understand. It carries lots of features and some that you won't find on others. The only thing is the fees. A lot of people who make use of Coinbase always complain about the fees, and that's the main reason most of them switch to other exchanges.

Transactions are fast with Coinbase and there is a recurring purchase that you can set if you don't want to stress yourself with login in at all times to buy coins. The recurring purchase feature automatically buys the coins you want at the time you set it. But like I have said, you're only going to have problems with fees.