garyg
B&B membership has its percs
It may be out of your budget range, but if you can swing it, I would look for a Big Green Egg, or a Primo kamado. For lesser beans, you can get a Big Steel Keg - same principle, although not ceramic, so I don't know how long it would last. I got a BGE last year and will never go back. If budget is a major factor here, then I agree with everyone else - a Weber Kettle is a no-brainer.
Big Green Egg. Forget everything else. I'm serious. It's amazing.
+2 on the Green Egg. Before the Egg I had a state of the art, propane fired stainless TEC, that to it's credit went 12 years & still brought $200 on resale. But, I got tired of shlepping propane tanks around (a trunk full of lump charcoal is easier on the wallet & unlikely to go boom if there's a mishap).
The Green Egg will go hotter than the TEC did, and throttle down like a candle in an ice cave. You can control the temperature degree by degree - did the best Thanksgiving Turkey ever last year. Pizza on the BBQ is wonderful. It will shut itself down & save the leftover charcoal when you are done.
The Weber kettle is a decent second to the BGE. With a charcoal chimney startup both are ready to cook in no time, seems the same as by the time a gasser gets warm enough to do something requiring more fire than tube steaks. The Weber isn't sealed as well as the BGE, and temperatures are harder to maintain, but the cooking principles are the same.