I do think it's great that you're getting into brewing, don't get me wrong there, I just see the mr beer stuff as only giving you a very small understanding of brewing. Once you go to a regular 'starter kit' you'll need to forget a lot of what mr. beer does and replace it with better methods/practices. Use unhopped extracts. Use pellet hops that either come in 1oz packets, or get bulk and measure them out yourself. Make starters for the yeast (more important for liquid than dry, but almost always a good idea), and so much more. Probably the only thing you'll keep from the 'pre-pre-pre-school' level of mr. beer is boiling water and adding ingredients at designated times/steps.
Personally, I skipped pre-school and kindergarden and jumped right into 1st grade for school.
I have always been a fast learner, especially when I have an interest in the subject.
I've done three extract brews, one partial mash, and one all grain so far. All grain batch #2 is tomorrow. My yeast starter is farting away happily, so I know the washed yeast is good (my first yeast wash/harvest results, have a second cake in the fridge for use when needed)...
I will say, that I do prefer using carboy's (either glass or plastic for beer, but glass for mead) to ferment in over buckets. IF you have the cabbage to spare, get the kit that includes a carboy for fermenting (still use the bottling bucket)... DO get the auto-siphon too, you'll appreciate it quickly. I make it a point to also have one airlock for every fermenting vessel I have, even if it's not in use, or I plan to rack from one to the other, and could move the airlock... You can never have too many airlocks (well, you could, but it would be a silly amount)... I would also recommend going with the Grolsch style of bottles. I prefer them over ones with caps you use and toss (since you ruin them when opening the brew) for a few reasons. For one, you have only one gasket to replace, eventually (a long time in the future). For another, they come in 16oz and 32oz sizes. For another, you can reseal them after opening, so if you don't want to finish a bottle (usually on the 32oz sizes) you can reseal it (do it as soon as possible though) and set it aside for later. They are also very easy to close come bottling day, not requiring any additional hardware... They also sound really cool when you pop one open.
One down-side of them is good luck in finding a bottle brush that will fit through the opening. I have yet to locate one. But, that's pretty easy to get around, since you just wash them out soon after draining them (I tend to do it within 20-30 minutes) and then just set them to dry. If you let them go too long, you can use either some PBW, or oxyclean to get the gunk out of them.
Just remember, good kits will help (from the LHBS, or mail-order)... Look on the threads here for good places to order kits (if you don't have a LHBS close enough that offers them). Also look for other brewers in your area to connect with. You can learn a lot from someone that's been doing it a while longer (most of the time)...
Of course, there's always the mantra to follow... RDWHAHB
and will still use it but I am going to upgrad to full 5 gal batches. I am still looking and will hopfully get a kit from B&S Brewers Guild Inc here in TX. I hope to get my kit in about one week. Well talk latter.
