Hello, I'm new to anime and manga. So far, I've enjoyed watching Death Note, Mushi-Shi, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and I'm looking forward to Michiko to Hatchin.
The only manga I've purchased was Path of the Assassin 1... and I guess it was decent. My real beef with manga is that there are at least 30 volumes for most series, each costing about $10, but only requiring a couple of hours to finish. There is no way I will spend that much money on manga. I suppose what I'm looking for is something nice and long that only has a few sequels (if any).
So, based off that, I would appreciate any suggestions that you may have.
I'm not sure if you're fluent in Japanese, but I'm going to assume you're not (like a lot of people here).
Unfortunately, without Japanese skills you're limited to what you're able to purchase in Nth America anime/manga shops.
I think your best bet, especially with your financial constraint, is to download those anime/manga subbed (subtitled) by fans. One good example is One Piece. Another is Naruto. But there are certainly more wider genre available for you to download free* (*let's just put aside the copyright ruling for now...).
Keep searching! You will be able to get many many anime/manga that are in English to try out simply through your Broadband Internet!
Does the word "torrent" sound familiar to you? If not, then I strongly recommend that you "get with the program"!