I'm using the two stage method myself (also new to home brewing). My baseline is when I get one airlock activity in more than two or three minutes, I rack into secondary and let it acclimate. My first brew, a honey porter, was in primary for 9 days. I then racked into secondary (to get off the sludge) and let it finish there. My second brew was in primary for only five days, before going to secondary...
Temperature of the environment is one of the factors that impact both how the brew comes out and how it ends up tasting. I'm acclimating my brews closer to the 60F mark, since the yeast I've used gives characteristics I want in that range. By the time summer comes along, I expect to have a controlled freezer to brew, age or acclimate brews in. I might even find room to have two units, so that I can brew different styles year round without worrying about going outside the temperature ranges...
I will say that I've used the primary fermenting bucket included with my first kit for just one brew. After dealing with that, I swore never again. Carboys are much easier to use, in my opinion. For one thing, you can actually see what's going on inside. This actually saved me from a major mess in the kitchen this past weekend.
BTW, I think most people here (that are brewing) not only love beer, but love really GREAT beer... I'm already making brews/beers that are better than I would normally get either at the package store, or when out (even at brew pubs)...