Jenny,
With you having a "crazy life," IMO, I think going with the Masterbuilt is a good idea.
It takes time to watch and maintain a stick fed smoker, and if you don't have time to do that, then more than likely you'll not do much smoking due to not having the time needed to complete a cook like a pork butt or brisket.
I don't know anything about the Masterbuilt 1050, so I looked it up. It looks and sounds like a good grill/smoker. I like that you can use lumb charcoal instead pellets. And with having up to 8 hours of cooking time before having to add more charcoal, gives you a lot of flexibility. I say go for it.
When life slows down, and you have more time, then look into getting or building a traditional/standard flow, or reverse flow.
Good luck, and let us know if you get the Masterbuilt, send pictures.