Photoshop

Currently I am using Photoshop Elements 8, this program does an awesome job when it comes to photo editing. I have recently purchased a couple of plug-ins to work inside of Photoshop Elements and now I can do some pretty amazing things with my Photos.  Unfortunately, I want to do more.  I see all of this amazing stuff that people can create with the great master to Photoshop Elements, Photoshop------ But i cannot afford to buy the full blown Photoshop.  So I started looking around at other programs, that will allow me to create cartoon type characters, I need something that is pretty easy to learn, I cant buy something expensive because I do this just for fun, it is not my Job nor do I make any money off what I make so I cannot justify a big expense just to "Play".  Do you have any suggestions for me, any ideas of what software I can buy that will give me the ability to create instead of just editing.  I would love to hear your thoughts.