The basic fare includes a small cabin luggage, here's the Ryanair's policy. My quite large bagpack still qualifies, and I fit my laptop, spare shoes and enough clothes for a week in. Then you can get an extra cabin luggage for about €20, depending on the destination and/or a checked in luggage from about €25 or so.
Anyways, for most of our flights, we can easily go with the cheapest option, there's no need to carry extra stuff.
In Serbia, Ryanair flies only from Niš, which is quite far from me, almost 250 km.
I like it best when I pack in a trolley case, then the ticket is more favorable for me, and the luggage is with me, I don't think that it might be lost.
A good insurance can handle this - mine would pay off €200 instantly when my luggage does not arrive in the same plane (there are instant payments here), I only need to send a snapshot of the confirmation the carrier issues. If the luggage gets lost or destroyed, they'd cover the damage to up to around €15,000, but that would not be this instant.
I believe a good travel insurance is a must - it costs a bargain, but when something happens, you're quite safe - we do hikes in the mountains, we ski... If something occur high in the mountains, we woudl likely need a helicopter rescue, and that's anything but cheap :)
These insurance conditions for baggage delay are also valid for low budget companies?
As for travel insurance, I take it even when I go outside the country, even for a day. I once went to the nearest town in a neighboring country, about 50 km away, and I cut myself on some glass... And I didn't have insurance... Since then i always take it...
As I travel a lot, I dedicated quite a lot of time to chosing the best possible product from the most reliable company :) So yes, it covers everything. Low-costs aren't worse than regular airlines though - the loading and unloading is handled by airport crew, not by airline staff. Or at least on airports I've been to. So the same people take care of your bags, be your carrier Emirates or Ryanair.