Ok, Need Advice.

soldier4Christ....You beat me to it,my budget is about 20 bucks a month...LOL

i would go to the bank and get pennies on those money

Yes all the Lincoln Cents have had their prices greatly inflated due to this latest nuttyness of the Mint. Now there are 20 different 2009 Lincoln Cents for your Album. And those are already selling for way more than they are worth. Of course without all 20, your Album is just not complete and the Mint knows that. Eventually if the Mint doesn't do something else to help inflate Lincoln Cents, those would really be the best thing for your kids. Don't know how old your kids are but if old enough to appreciate collecting coins, you may want to just ask them what they want. Or put the money aside for when they are old enough to make that decision. As a starter you may want to buy them a Red Book by Whitman Publishing and a few other coin books so they can get an idea of what THEY want.
Other than that you should always remember if you take the advice of someone on what to do with your money and it turns out all wrong, you will spend a lot of time in your life blaming them and yourself for listening to them.
My advise is to do what YOU want with your money. If it's coins, also get a few books and look up what you like. If still undecided, go to a coin show, coin store, etc and look what is available.
Of course there is a really simple thing here that will eliminate your problem. SEND ME THAT MONEY.

I would look into buying uncirculated commemorative dollars, or both Unc's and proofs. The uncirculated dollars have some of the lowest mintage of any modern coins. Having one once of silver is a plus too. My bet is the mint will continue to release new ones each year. In 20 to 40 years it will be very hard to complete a set. Look at it like trying to put together a set of old commemorative half dollars now, the low mintage ones like the Hawaii half is very hard to find and very expensive, MS65 lists RedBook at $6000.
Check out the Red Book, a 1996 National Community Service in uncirculated (MS67) Mintage 23,500 is listed at $250. Imagine what it will be like in 20 years. There are a few like that and a few that are approaching $100. I think there will come a time when they they will become very hot and everyone will want to put a complete set together, when that happens some of these coins will double or triple pretty easy. Just my opinion, but look into it.

Ok, you guys got great suggestions, I like all your ideas. I would like to lean to the key cents, but...

I also know I can't count on it...

With the way gold is going, historically it seems to be at the lowest point of the year in the early months, what if I say bought about 4 ounces of gold bullion then finished off a couple sets for fun. Gold is predicted to hit between $1575 and $2050 an ounce this year. If it hits only $1357 that's $250 profit per coin (provided I bought it at today's price) That would be the price I paid plus an extra $1000 to play with to buy even more coins.

Of course it doesn't include premiums and such but It could work out well, I would still get at least 4 new coins and more time to decide what I want to buy (Remember I am still new to this).

I only have about 6 ounces of gold now, most of that being gold proofs, 2009 UHR and commemorative gold, but still stuff I don't want to sell.

Does this sound good to anyone or is it stupid?

If it were me?

I'd buy one coin that cost the whole budget. A rarity is a rarity, that will never change, and one coin worth $5000 will always be in the sights of people whose budget is recession-proof. Tastes differ, of course, but in your positions my sights would be set on a 19th-Century Proof coin, preferably one of the highest graded for that date. One can assume that there are very few of this type left out of slabs, so there won't be hoards discovered to dilute the value, and the finest-known examples of any date will always be in the crosshairs of the true collector, ensuring future value. Something like this:



PCGS PR66, 600 minted, only 3 known finer. This coin went for $3220 at Heritage a couple days ago. Very few people want this coin, but the ones who do aren't afraid to pay for it. And, if you ask me, it's gorgeous.

I have been thinking that way also, but there are so many choices there also, I know it is not quite what you had in mind but the Gold/Silver 1995-w Proof set is kind of a compromise. APMEX has it for $6,000.

My only problem with an 18xx proof is that I should probably see it first hand, I'm sure if I find a nice example I will fall in love with it right away. It can't be something I find on E-bay. There is a coin show coming to Memphis on the 26th of February, maybe I should hold off any purchase until then. At least I think I read that.

I have never seen a Heritage auction, I should check them out too.

Keep the ideas coming, you guys are great!