“Needs” can include future needs. If you’re planning on kids in the next 5-10 years, go for a 3/1 or 3/2, IF you can afford it comfortably with your current income. If you can’t, how the hell are you going to afford kids in the first place? 🙂

This being said, I’m going for the Big Snip(tm) after my first kid. I want a kid eventually, but not a brood. It’s not 1912 where a lot of kids die of childhood diseases, and Gaia is suffering under the strain of overpopulation as it is!

And it’s not impossible to travel on a budget with kids; you just need to be creative. (My family did that in the 90s; it wasn’t really hard if you liked small hotel rooms, apartment shares, and camping 🙂 )