My $0.02 as a new welder that learned watching mad YouTube videos and emulating what I saw. Just starting and don’t have much money get a 20lb bottle of CO2. You can get a used one for cheap, it costs about $20 to swap it out and you get 174cf of gas to weld with. With practice the welds look good and you get good penetration with it. I’m decent and can lay down a nice looking bead for someone that learned off YT and have only been at it for 6 months and about a hour of welding time per week. I now use C25 because I got a great deal on a customer owned used bottle. I’m learning to make stainless steel exhausts for my cars which I have a bottle of trimix that I’m just waiting to get a little better before tackling that job. I got a Vulcan migmax 215 for $250 so I couldn’t pass it by though it’s HF. So car it’s been great. I’ll echo the go with 240V crowd. I used both since the migmax 215 is capable and 240V is the way to go. The welding is just so much better. Also, if you’re gonna get a Lincoln get an official Lincoln; not the ones from Lowe’s or HD. I think it’s the same if you get it from Walmart. You can check FB marketplace for a good deal on a used Miller. Good luck. Jody from weldingtipsandtricks.com gives great advice as has already been mentioned.