Hi,
There are ICs available that contain counters.
With microcontroller (AVR/PIC/8051/HC08/MSP or any microcontroller) your circuit will be much easier and less complex than discrete circuitry.
Hi,
Well for IC, there are some very cheap ones from APLUS. But I don't know if you can find them. My dad got a lot of them from India, and it's very easy to use.