I'm interested in purchasing a serger, but not wanting to spend a fortune. Anyone have suggestions? Thanks for your input :)

I like my Janome

I bought one used from Craigslist last year. Paid $40-50??? Can't remember exactly. Had it serviced at my normal repair shop for $75-100. It did not come with a manual. I was able to purchase one online but it was a crappy copy. I couldn't figure out the threading. A not so LQS was offering serger classes for $10/session. That instructor was excellent. Took 2-3 of those and can now at least follow what I have been taught. Don't really use it for much so, like you, didn't want to spend big $$. I'm happy with my decision and went into the process not uninformed as to what I was looking at $$-wise for cost/tuneup and the classes were far less than I anticipated spending. I would suggest looking online at different manufacturers/models to see what might be what you would like. I'd go for at least a 4 thread as I think you can get nicer edges with the additional thread. Then keep your eyes open on CL. They are out there frequently and cheaply enough that you should be able to find one fairly quickly/easily. Just my opinion.

I think I would buy a new Janome, they will show you how to use it, can take lessons. Well worth it! I bought my last one used from a friend, while it is a dandy of a machine, I wished I had just bought the new Janome like I had intended.
If you don't want to spend that much, there are good used ones out there at garage sales, craigslist etc. A lot of people buy them and hardly ever take them out of the box.

I use my mine some times if I have fabric that wants to ravel, especially when I am doing borders and sashing. I hope it doesn't cause problems for my quilters. They never mention it if it does. I bought the cheapest one I could find that used 4 threads and looked for easy threading. They can be really rotten to get threaded. I have had this one (my third) for about a year and have not ever had to re thread it totally. No problems with thread breaking, etc. It is a BROTHER LOCK 1034D. I use it nearly every day for one thing or another. My Simplicity was terrible to thread. I nearly had to stand on my head to thread it.

Thanks, everyone, for your input.:)