Which Nikon lenses do you get the most bang for your buck?

Ok i just got the Nikon D7000 with 18-105 lens. I have a 55-300 which has stopped working and a very old 18-55. I'm just looking for a good walk around lens under 500$, preferably one that zooms more than 55mm

The video here will help you understand lenses better.

First off, how did the 55-300 stop working? Does it not auto focus? Is the switch on the side on MF and not AF? Does the lens fall off of the camera? I just can't see what besides auto focus could stop workings on a lens, there's no "work," by existing it is already doing everything it is supposed to do. If you can be more precise about what that lens is not doing we may be able to tell you how to make it work again.

Now, the 18-105 is a very decent focal length for general use. That is why it comes with the camera. What most people do will require a lens between 18-105ish. I'm seeing 3 major limitations to the lenses you have/want. You are not very wide, not very long, and very slow. DSLR cameras are not really meant to use 1 lens that zooms far away. There are bridge cameras that give you manual control and zoom from 28-700mm and fit in a pocket. A DSLR lets you use the right lens in the right situation, be it wide, long or fast. Having a 18-270 DSLR lens or a 28-700 bridge camera gives you a sacrifice in one package. It's a jack of all trades and a master of none.

If you want to see far away, you need a long lens, something like 300mm, 70-300mm. These can be well over $2000 each. If you want to be in tight areas, a wide lens will be useful, 10-20mm, 14mm. The biggest thing that will haunt you soon enough is the minimum aperture on those lenses. The 4-5.6 or 4.5-6.3 means that they are 2 -5 times darker than they should be for nighttime or indoors. You will get blurry pictures. For this I suggest a "fast" lens such as a 50mm, 1.8 or 85mm, 1.8.

The "walk around" lens for the past 80 years has been the 50mm.

If you sell your 18-105 and your 18-55 you might get enough for the 18-200mm lens which is one of the best general use lenses out there for nikon systems.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...200mm.html
The 18-200 costs about $800.

If you wanted a prime lens, you could also choose any of the AF 50mm lenses.

Bang for buck. 18-55 and 18-105

A 55-300 is so new it should be looked at by nikon, t's still under warranty.

If your 18-105 does not do it for then sell it and the 18-55 and go and get a 16-85.

I would say the 18-55mm would be the best for you but it seems you don't appreciate it. Most people forget that they can actually get nearer to their subject most of the time to get a nearer shot. At the moment, I personally use a manual 50mm f/2 prime as my walk-around lens.