I wish I had spent far less on my first digital camera. I think most people who buy a DSLR for the first time don't really know what they want in a camera. If I were looking at Nikon and starting over knowing nothing, I'd probably buy a Nikon D70 for $100. Get this lens with it, a fixed, non zooming lens:
http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-50mm-Nikkor-Digital-Cameras/dp/B00005LEN4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393391316&sr=8-1&keywords=nikon+50mm+f%2F1.8+D. I would NOT get a zoom lens for your first lens. It will make you lazy. Fixed lenses force you to walk around and think more about you composition. I love my zooms, but I'm also glad that I started with the Canon equivalent of the above lens for several years before buying a zoom.
As others have said, learn what kind of photos you want to take and learn how all the settings work. In 9 months, put the D70 in your fireplace along with the countless magazines you'll read from now till then. Christmas sales will be going and go buy what you know you want.The money you'll save on Christmas sales will more than make up for the "wasted" money buying a D70 from now till then. Keep the lens as it is a lifetime investment.
Last Christmas shopping season I upgraded my Canon 400D to the full frame Canon 6d. I got it for $1,500 with $200 of free stuff (camera bag, monopod, extra battery, etc) in the Christmas sales and right now its selling for $1,750 after the holidays. I realized that what I really like are landscapes and low light. I love hunting and a nice wildlife photo as much as anyone else on here but I don't want to take my camera in pursuit of wildlife, for now. If I decide to later, I'll probably pick up a used 7D or 70D.
My order of quality must haves is:
1. Filters
2. Lenses
3. Camera
Filters are like binoculars. Buy a good one and it will last you your lifetime Buy cheap, buy twice. If you want to shoot landscapes, you'll want a nice circular polarizer and maybe a neutral density filter. You can skip the grads (graduated neutral density filter) as you can shoot HDR and get similar results. You can forget UV filters all together. I have a couple of $1,000+ lenses and I use a clear filter for protection but putting a protection filter on a $100-300 lens is silly. :two cents:
If your wife is a good study, you can self teach yourself without a class.
http://www.magbooks.com/mag-books/digital-photography/getting-started-in-digital-photography-2nd-edition This is an AWESOME magazine. Very little junk ad and page after page of kick ass how-to's. Between this magazine and the plethora of great stuff on YouTube you don't need to go to an expensive college class.
look into getting the 3200 its not much more expensive and the megapixels go from 14 with the 3100 and 24 with the 3200.
If you ever want to blow up you pictures and get them printed you will be happy you went with the 3200
I disagree with the above. If you want to print big, you're better off getting a large frame sensor camera. i believe this means "FX" for Nikon instead of "DX" which is their drop (i.e., the 3100, 3200, ec). Megapixels are a marketing gimmick once you get past 8-10 on a camera. You will get far better quality prints with a 13 megapixel full frame camera than you will with a 22 megapixel crop sensor. My 6d is a 20 megapixel camera and I usually only set it to 1/2 (10 megapixel photos) for most photos (casual shots, chasing the kids, etc). Shooting 20 megapixel RAW files fills up a hard drive in a hurry.
