When I first started playing I used cheap Top Flite 2000's. Lost quite a few but didn't break the bank. When I started getting a little better I switched to Callaway red hex. I could not believe how that ball felt. Soft to hit and went a lot further than the Top Flite. That's about the time when manufacturers started producing the "ball of the week". So many changes year to year the ball I was playing one year was discontinued the next.
Went to Walmart and picked up a cheap box of Pinnacle Exceptions. I heard the ball was made by Titleist and was considered a poor man's Pro V1. The ball was so good for me that I played it for 5 years until alas it was discontinued as well.
Been playing Titleist NXT softs for a few years now. I buy about 3 dozen of them from Lost Golf Balls at the beginning of the season. Last all year with some left over for the silly late fall season when balls are lost in the middle of the fairway.