I usually think how often I will use a particular die before buying so have passed on a lot of them. I really like using the dies that make many of the same shape instead of using the cubes. That is just me. I don't think there is a wrong way to buy the dies. I do have a small house, so really don't want too many dies as I have to find storage space. Most of what I have are basics, like the strip cutters, triangles, squares. I do have a few specialty ones like the log cabin die and circles and one flower die.