Rudeguy - first off congrats for trying and enjoying it. I am only here to help so that you can discover your own personal chili bliss.
Start with your base and brown your meat, whatever meat it is that you like and seaons lightly, you want browning so get some color on the meat for me this is 6 on my dial...you're not stewing the meat, you're browning it.
Then toss in your veggies and turn the heat down, you're sweating them here and picking up some of the fat/spice flavor in the pot, drain however much fat you like from the meat beforehand. Season as you see fit, but lightly.
OK! Now you have a decent base for a stew. Toss in your tomatoes, sans liquid, and deglaze that pan. Toss everything else in and cook at a simmer to blend everything. Taste and season as needed, use a tablespoon of sugar if it gets too tart/spicey.
Use chicken or beef stock as liquid to get consistency you need, taste and season 20 minutes before serving. The point here is don't dump the juice from the beans or maters in unless that's what you want, reserve the liquid from the maters and taste it to see if you want to put it in. That's too much juice. Tomato paste is also your friend.
Most important part? Taste it the whole time to find what you like.