Honestly if you don't want to waste your money, go with a PowerShot.

If you want good close-up pictures, be sure to purchase a camera with a macro mode.

For what you described, you really don't want anything over 4MP because you would just be wasting your money on features and power you wouldn't be using.

The PowerShot Roxyluvsme13 recommended above seems like one that would best suit you and what you want to use it for