If you are after water-saving & relatively money-friendly, I'd go with a front loader. We got a Whirlpool one a few weeks ago and I love it- mostly because our old top loader was so small I would be doing anywhere from 5-8 loads of washing a weekend! Now it's all done in 3 or 4 loads. Also uses a lot less water per load than a top loader. Only bad thing I've found about it, is that unless we get a dual hose thing for the cold tap, it uses hot water as well (i've always done washing in cold water), but that's no big drama, and sometimes there is a bit of water left in the seal at the front of the door after a load has been done, so just need to remember to wipe it out and also occasionally wipe around and in the entire seal to keep it nice and clean.
Have you looked around at any washing machines? We went into our Good Guys store and had a look at what they had a few times before we actually bought one, just to suss out prices and about the individual products.