Hi Aaron,
After you get pictures printed at a drug store you might very well ask why bother since it's so good. Well printers allow you to use really special papers that enhance the look of pictures for some uses. If you don't alter your colors and you set your camera to autolight blalance, color can be accurate. If you use weird lighting, your colors will be at risk. Still you can set your camera for Tungsten or Fluoresecent lights and your pictures will do fine. You camera provides software for correcting images.
Costco has very low prices and good printers.
Circuit City will be having going out of business sales, so ask. A good start is an 8x10 printer. Epson, Canon or HP are all great. Just get pigment inks for photography and fine art prints, not a printer for office use. The big cost is ink. So check that out. Just look and BHPhotovideo.com or you local stores may have special on sale. I use all three brands. I know the Epson will work out of the box with their paper and inks.
Good luck!