What buy-in should I play?

I've been playing MTT tourneys for about 4 months now. I'm well up on my literature, HOH, TOP etc.
My results are mixed and confusing. They are small sample sizes but i'll detail them anyway.
I initially started playing the freerolls on stars as practise. I finished in the top 10% approx 15-20% of the time. I played about 20 tourneys.
I started playing the small buy-in tourney $3 on stars and Partypoker. I've played about 30 of these. I would have to say I found the $3 more comfortable. I have finished in the money about 20% of the time, however i've never finished deep, therefore making it unprofitable. My best finish is 75th out of 5000.
I have also had free entry into about 5 higher stake tourneys when I joined another poker site (equivalent of about $10 buy in). I finished 4th out of 200 in one winning about $150. I also had one other ITM finish ,winning $20, and also once went out on the bubble.
I have tried the $1 and $2 tourneys on stars a few times in recent days and find it very difficult playing against calling stations. The thing I find difficult is the difficulty to read them and the meaning of their plays.
What buy-in should I be thinking of playing? Should I stick with $3 or give the $5 tourneys a try?

I don't think you'll find a huge difference in terms of skill between $3 and $5 tournies, both should be profitable. The more important question is what is your bankroll? Others know more about this than I do, but I think the consensus is that you should have 40-50 buy-ins in your bankroll. So if you've got $250, you ought to be able to play the $5 tournies.

I might be wrong, but didn't you post this exact same question a few days ago? The thread seemed to be quite long, thought you might of got your answers there.

It was similar. I don't think there was enough detail in it though, so when I said I was unprofitable at $3 and asked whether I should move up, I think people got the wrong idea.
My bank roll could stretch to $200

[DonT77]

Well, the level you play should depends on-

1) how much you bankroll is, typically if you are playing a lot of MTTs at around the same level they should be about < 1 - 2 % of your bankroll to avoid gambler's ruin due to variance. Of course at the $3 level - I'm not sure if gambler's ruin is much of a concern as you should be able to come up with another $300 if needed.

2) How much skill you have - I wouldn't recommend playing in $20 MTTs (even if you start with $2000+) until you have shown some success at the 5.50 or 11 level. If you are profitable at those levels (or feel you should be but always get sucked in big pots) feel free to move up a level. Personally I play anywhere from $11-$200 buy-ins and I don't find the play that much different in the first level or two, but don't expect to consistently get deep in a $33+ until you've got some experience and improve on your game. Most of the money to be won is at the end of a tournament, so those are the players you need to be able to beat.

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but don't expect to consistently get deep in a $33+ until you've got some experience and improve on your game. Most of the money to be won is at the end of a tournament, so those are the players you need to be able to beat.

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So you think it would be a good idea to stick with $3 until I get deeper?

Experience is golden, you are not going to see any difference in buyins from 1-5, so if you got the bankroll to support it, keep playing and get some well needed experience before you think of jumping up.

And calling stations are easy to play against once you know thats what they are. You value bet your good hands, don't price yourself out of a drawing hand, and don't bluff them.