You have left out a lot of details that would help us advise you better.
Are you hiking or car camping?
Where and when are you most likely to camp?
Improved or primitive sites?
How much precipitation and wind might you expect if the forecaster is wrong?
Do you like decent meals or just adequate ones?
How cozy do you have to be to get a good night's sleep?
I ask these questions because when I was single most of my money was in my backpack, my sleeping bag, and my boots. I got by rigging a tarp or situating some mesh as a bug barrier, and met my cooking needs with a surplus alcohol stove.
When I started dating my future wife, I broke down and got a proper tent, a Whisperlite, inflatable pads, and even collapsible camp chairs. Backpacking routes became shorter as I became something of her porter for stuff she won't give up shy of TEOTWAWKI.
Along came kids, (soon to be three), and now that I have a young family it is car camping at state parks almost exclusively. Now I have a two burner stove, a camp oven, a dutch oven, a kitchen station with sink, a Kelty Mantra 7 as the outdoors palace, and some enormous coolers. We have "graduated" to full-on expedition status and are looking at getting a Jumping Jack pop-up tent trailer.
http://www.jumpingjacktrailers.com/
I guess the point of this rambling toy list is that I can now do everything from a minimalist backpacking trip into nowhere with my older but serviceable stuff on up to "everything but an RV" and tailor the gear to the comfort level demanded by the circumstances or the whim of she who must be obeyed.
So whether I bring a tarp or two or three depends on where and the season. Whether I have a screen house along depends on the bug level expected. Whether open fires are permitted or not decides the level of kitchen equipment hauled along. The heat dictates the cooler capacities. The variables are endless, but I have worked out the logistics fairly efficiently and I use hi-lofts and storage bins in my garage as predetermined gear platforms. If I take the first one, it is "bugging out plus." Add the second for a weekend car camping trip. Add the third to go up to ten days, go short and palatial, or into variable (bad) weather. Most of the upgrading consists of higher amounts of add-on gear to the kitchen and recreation (bikes, lifejackets, swim toys, etc.) So the first platform is the essentials, the second is the nice to haves, and the third is the over the top stuff. Coolers are taken stuffed with gear for the trip out and back and food and drink bought locally while at the destination.
What you want to do depends on your imagination and your budget. I even have a Paha Que toilet/shower arrangement for places with no bathroom facilities.
Shy of that, I have found some general guidelines over the years that are extremely useful.
1. Always buy a tent one "person" larger than you need. IOW, a two man is really a one and three is really a two and so forth, unless you enjoy clausterphobia and stuffy air at night. Too big of a tent is bad the other direction, but too small is way worse.
2. Sleeping bag ratings are inaccurate. As noted above, buy more rating than you need. This also builds in a margin for truly unexpected cold fronts, especially at elevation.
3. Aluminum poles on a tent are worth the extra upfront cost. They provide a stiffer structure against wind and they are usually far lighter than fiberglass as the diameter goes up. You usually get what you pay for on a tent and the better ones use aluminum.
4. Have a full coverage rain fly. It will make your trip miserable to have a leaky tent. The easiest way to insure water inside your tent is to have too small a fly. As noted, one with a vestibule is the best. I try and stay away from A-frame tents myself because the overhangs at the door(s) are usually pathetic. On a related note, the first thing purchased for a tent, after a proper footprint/floor saver, should be another group of tent stakes and more line for guy outs. You will find you can never have too many, especially in a good breeze where more tie outs would be really nice.
5. Get a tent with more than one way out. No one likes being climbed over or stepped upon. Makes cleaning easier too.
6. Get any stove you like, just make sure that you take an adequate fuel supply or ensure that you can get the fuel at your destination. Despite having many other options, I still take my surplus alcohol stoves along because they are silent first thing in the morning and they boil water just fine without close observation.
Personally, I can't wait until my son is old enough so that just we two can get back to at least "roughing it" a bit more than my wife currently tolerates. For now I only have an annual hunting trip for a real backwoods camp out.
. Mummy bag or rectangular; for car camping, it's up to your personal preference.
