I actually weld a fair bit ,,,
first is decide what you are likely to be welding , and work from there ,,,
cheap and cheerful, just buy a stick , all round a migs hard to beat , value for money hard to go past an oxford , or even a sealey supermig ,,, Tig in anything but basic dc starts to get expensive , and although it looks like the magic bullet , it really isnt Ive an EWM and it was the price of a decent car, it welds very nicely , but I still reach for my mig for most things.