General Cycling Discussion - which shoes for shimano m324 - im confused

I currently have shimano m324 pedals (http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-PD-M324-Pedals/dp/B000COAY4Q) but I am confused about which shoes I can get for them. They are "SPD" pedals, but I don't know what that means.

They are mountain biking pedals according to the shimano website, but I was wondering if it mattered if I got a road or mtb shoe. This is for my hybrid bike. Also, I don't have cleats for them, so I was wondering if you can fit the right cleat to any type of shoe. Shimano sh-51 cleats (http://www.bikesmart.com/index.cfm?menu=browse&cid=PED&ssid=PAOHADALGGHIHMAD&ap=21.99&StartRow=1) are supposed to fit my pedals, but still I don't know what kind of shoes those could go on. I know the RT-51 and RT-50 shoes would work, but I am looking for something cheaper for my first pair of clipless shoes. Any recommendations for a shoe that is $50 or under not including cleats?

any shoe that says "spd compatible "will work. Shimano makes a lower line sport/fitness shoe that retails in the $50 range. Nashbar and Performance have their store brand shoes which are also in the $50 range or less.

The shoe will have screw holes in the sole, and you screw the cleat to it and that makes it work. A bike store will have the proper cleats for those pedals. Either road or mountain bike shoes will work. Road bike shoes are hard to walk in because you are walking on the exposed cleat. Mountain bike shoes have tread that makes it a little easier to walk in them, and may protect your floor from the cleat if you wear them inside. However don't assume they will be ok on your hardwood. If you hear the cleat hitting the floor be carefull.

Thanks for the advice. What do you think about these shoes (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=600084&subcategory=60001041&brand=&sku=14934&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Subcat%3A%20Mountain%20Shoes) on nashbar? Very cheap, look plain but might be perfect for my needs/first cycling shoe. They even have a printable pdf (http://www.nashbar.com/sizecharts/Nash05footscale2pages.pdf) for measuring your foot size.

Generally you don't need to measure your foot. Simply determine your shoe size from this chart.

http://www.nashbar.com/tech/images/06NB_ShoeSizingChart.gif

The shoe from post #4 will do. You need to use the two bolt pattern.

I use Shimano SH-MT20 shoes for commuting. I think they were a $30 in-store sale item a couple of years ago. The SH-MT21 is similar except they are brown instead of gray. They're pretty good shoes if you don't mind lace ups.

The Nashbar shoe would probably be fine I have had good luck with their store brand products. The Shimano MT20 or 21 that Grumpy recommended is a good shoe also I had a pair of MT20's a few years back that I wore for 3 years and I had no complaints.

The slots allow you to position the cleats for comfort. I found that rotating the cleats inward (pointing the tip towards the big toe) made it much easier exit the pedal, since I didn't have to rotate my heel very far to disengage. You can also adjust forwards or backwards.

You should have gotten a pair of cleats with your pedals. They're standard issue.