Regarding money: apart from a car seat (buy a new one!), there honestly isn't much that's expensive and necessary for raising a baby. Take a pram, for instance: we bought one for $70 on Craigslist for our first daughter, second daughter is using it now four years later, no problems that regular maintenance with what I have in the garage hasn't solved. Crib: Ikea, $40, our oldest slept in that till she was three. Clothes for babies are cheap, buy them a little big and you can use them for 3 months or more. They don't care if their pants go up to their shoulders.
I love the Ikea crib. Simple, safe, all you need for a baby / toddler. We had a fancier crib for our first, but it was way less durable and failed during the toddler years. For clothes, it helps to know other people with similar aged children; we've traded clothes back-and-forth with a whole circle of people. Kids also don't care if they're wearing hand-me-downs :)
Best part for us about the Ikea crib was when we moved to a different country, we just bought an identical one and our daughter instantly went "Sweet, my bed is here!".
