You can spend as much as you have on sewing machines!!! Save your cash for the stash!
I had a year of collecting machines. My favorite Go-To is my 1938 Singer Featherweight. Straight Stitch, fits on the dining table, makes a noise that is pleasant and part of my happy place. I free motion on her and she works like a charm. Love love love this machine.
For applique I use my Costco Brother machine. It has some cute fancy stitches. I also have a vintage Singer with lots of stitches but the Brother is lighter to grab and set up so that's the one that I pull. This is also the machine I usually let the kids sew on.
I also own a DDL-8700 Commercial Juki. It's so powerful I sometimes hear masculine noises coming from it (like a jet engine!). I'm teaching myself how to free-motion on it because the throat is so big. Sometimes I put away the FW and spend some quality time with my Juki. I bought it at a garage sale and it's an amazing machine.
I was shopping at the quilt stores and saw that you can spend as much as a car on a nice long arm. Maybe some day. But I don't have much space for a 12' table so for now I will wrestle with my other machines. I took a Long Arm class and I can rent time on a machine about 45 minutes away. That will probably never happen since my quilt time is 8pm-10pm (kids are in bed) or weekends while hanging out with the kids. Maybe someday! Long arms are so fun!
Sometimes I am jealous of the ladies with the nice, fancy Janomes or Vikings. Just a little.