Costco has an "online roadshow" that includes the Kamado Joe charcoal. Four 20lb bags for $80, with free shipping. I got a dozen bags the first time they offered it. I've tried over a dozen kinds of charcoal in my Big Joe, and this is my favorite by far. I've heard good things about B&B recently as well.
Good until 6/21:
https://www.costco.com/kamado-joe-lump-charcoal-20lb,-4-pack.product.100482227.html
WRT "graduating" to a "real" smoker, I went the exact opposite way. 5 years ago, I had:
Smoke Hollow vertical smoker
Members Mark Stainless vertical smoker
Weber Performer charcoal kettle
Weber Genesis Gold NG grill
Ducane Meridian Propane grill
Camp Chef 2 burner stove
Bayou Classic turkey fryer
I had two smokers because one was uninsulated and worked great in the summer (but couldn't hold temps in the winter), and the other was heavily insulated so worked great in the winter, but I couldn't get it to stay under 300F in the summer.
Of that list, I now only have the last two, and those are very rarely used (a few times/year at most). So what happened? I bought a Kamado. That obviously immediately deprecated the Weber kettle. But after I tried smoking in it, I gradually lost interest in using the smokers, because the kamado was easier and gave better results. I got rid of both smokers a year or two later. Similarly, the results were much better than grilling on gas, so the Genesis was relegated to really quick things like hotdogs or vegetables.
That seemed silly, so about two years ago I got a Camp Chef Flat-Top Grill to replace the Genesis, and sold both Webers (and the Ducane) at a garage sale. I am now perfectly happy with just the Kamado and the Flat-top, and see no need to add anything else to the mix*. Much MUCH happier with these two grills/smokers than the five I had previously.
*little white lie. I actually love the flat top so much that I bought a portable 17" one that runs on 1lb propane tanks to take with us on vacation.