Umm… @professortavares already stated twice he prefers pre E-series, and doesn’t really like the looks of the newer sets…
Anyway, welcome to the forum @professortavares ! I personally can’t really give very good advice on the question you have, because I personally don’t collect sets (I collect Pikachus, Sevipers, and Mimikyus primarily in every variation possible), nor do I have a pretty strict budget or the need for only NM cards.
But despite that, I can still give some opinions based on what I’ve learned from others here on the forum and my own experiences:
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The most important thing in collecting any kind of Pokémon TCG collection is setting collecting goals for yourself. In the past I personally just bought any cards I liked the artwork of, without an actual goal. Now that I primarily collect Pikachus, Sevipers, and Mimikyus (and some other collections now, like FA Supports and National Index), I can only focus on those goals and not be distracted by other cards that are for sale.
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If you have a limited income, set budgets for yourself and stick to it. If you would collect non-graded (which I would advice for a starting collector since it’s cheaper, takes less space, and it’s easier to browse to your collection appreciating the artworks in their binders), regular set cards aren’t too hard to come by in general. So even if you’re already at your set budget for the month, I would advice to not go over it anyway (it’s your own choice of course). But if you go over it once, saying you’d spend less next month, it usually doesn’t happen. I speak from experience with both my twisty puzzles collection and Pokémon collections.
You can always increase your budget of course, but I wouldn’t go over it too much if you can’t afford it financially. You also have to save for the future of course after school. -
I personally use Ultra Pro 2 5/8" x 3 5/8" card sleeves and 9-slot A4 binders with loose sheets, so I can move things around or insert a 18-slot page in between if necessary. For the very rare ungraded cards I use these same sleeves, including a toploader, and that toploader in another sleeve with adhesive to semi-seal it, which I put together with the few graded cards I have in a 4-slot A4 binder. For Jumbo cards I use BCW 6" by 9" Photograph sleeves and Ultra Pro 6" by 9" toploaders in regular A4 page clear single-page binder sleeves. This is the combination that works best for me personally, but everyone has of course different binders, sleeves, toploaders, and storage methods they prefer.
Once again welcome to the forum, and enjoy your stay! Good luck with your collection goals.
Greetz,
Quuador