i have to agree with you 100% about cloth diapers. we didn't use them with our daughter, although i wish we had. our son is still wearing his (just at night), but soon enough he'll be out of them. i'm glad to hear that craigslist worked so well for you. i'll definitely be checking that out when the time comes. as for other good bargains for kids -- i know this just barely counts, since it's free, but the library is a heck of a deal. we have sampled hundreds of books over the years and (elsewhere) gone on to buy their favorites.
Definitely cloth diapers. The best gift I got, though? A sling. Slings are awesome!
I have to second you on cloth diapers. I got most of mine used by the pound at our local diaper service- covers too- and they have been passed on, then passed on, etc. But the best purchase? A used Fisher Price booster seat:
http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Pri...r/dp/
B0000DEW8N
Got it for about $8 at the thrift store and we take it everywhere. No cluttery high chair in our kitchen, the thing folds up to go in the car or stroller, and now it's ready for baby#2 and still looks brand new. One of the few plastic things I own and really like.
my second daughter (sorry, second child, first daughter) was born in australia, cloth diaper capital of the world (even the hospital used cloth!) well i quickly jumped on the bandwagon, they sold the old fashioned ones, you know, they looked like a thinner square towel. they came in groovy colours.. i had pink, yellow, blue, and green. they sold a powder 'soak maker' and you just soaked them in a bucket for a few hours, rinsed them in the washer and hung them to dry outside! it was so easy and economical!
now for my best investment........ actually, i bought a harness for my daughter when she was a baby, she had ran off into a parking lot one day and was almost ran over. the next day she had a harness which she quite enjoyed because if she was wearing it, she didn't have to hold my hand (little tiny miss independant, probably caused by the powder in the cloth diapers) anyways, she only wore it for 6 months until she decided it would be nice to hold mom's hand. i was so happy for her to be safe 
I *heart* cloth diapers and the apartment-sized, roll-away washing machine I bought off of Craigslist to wash them. So far, I've only spent maybe $40 on cloth diaper stuff (gifts and DIY recycled fabric dipes/covers for the rest) and the washer has already paid for itself.
Besides that, the baby swing my mom bought me (also off of Craigslist) has been worth its weight in gold. My little bug is too big for it now, but I'm not sure how we would have made it through the first six months of her life without it. Like you, I plan on selling it on Craigslist sometime soon.
I'm with you. The Rainbow flannel diapers I purchased (Lordy) seventeen years ago saw me through two babies.
I also got my money's worth from my baby backpack. That sucker saved my life in that I could be mobile. My kids weren't big stroller fans.
I heart the cloth pre-fold diapers we use via Austin Diaper Service - thought I'd wait until Amelia got bigger to buy my own stash.
I must give a shout out to Hawthorne Montessori School, a new(ish) Montessori in north Austin that takes infants from 2 months AND IS CLOTH DIAPER FRIENDLY!
I don't think I would have survived this first six months without my Boppy. Ridiculously priced at @ $50, but wow I use the crap out of it!
I used both types of diapers (for the reasons you already mentioned).
This post reminds me, however, of how my oldest (getting married at the ripe old age of 30 this month) tells everyone how I dressed my 2 girls in boys' clothes when they were little. I heard something about this from her fiancee this weekend and said, "I did NOT". ... intentionally ... the clothes depended on which of my friends gave them to me and whether or not they had boys or girls. Didn't make sense to crawl around the house in a dress, so (for that purpose) boys' clothes worked out fine.
I actually didn't spend much at all--since it was out first and only (after ten years of marriage), family and friends got quite excited and pretty much bought or handed down everything we needed. The crib came from a friend who used it for her two (which came from her sister, who used it for two of her three children); the changing table from my sister-in-law, the dresser was mine (which was given to me by grandmother after she'd gotten many years of use out of it). People crocheted like crazy, and bought all kinds of outfits. One neighbor even bought the necessary little things like baby nail clippers and a thermometer (what, I need special tools for this?!) The one thing that we DID buy, though, was a Baby Bjorn--LOVED IT! The boy pretty much lived in it for the first year.
The cloth diapers we used were a good buy, though with the changing of the guard and my husband being the stay at home parent with baby #3 it's shifted to disposables. Tied for first has to be the beautiful sling. They're just fabulous for the whole nursing career. Worst buy? The crib! Never used it. I mean not even once. Ridiculous. The babies have always just slept with me, where they can nurse whenever they like and I can get a slightly better night's sleep. Once they're bigger, they get a toddler bed in our room, but the crib? I must have given it to Goodwill.
Middle daughter had eczema and very sensitive skin. Disposables were hell on her.
I used cloth for her, this kind with velcro fasteners and a water resistant outer shell. Can't remember the name. Those things were fantastic.
Cloth diapers, hands-down. We've used them for both kids, and re-sold what we were no longer using. Sounds funny to the uninitiated, I know.
I'd also put in a vote for the chickens ... fresh eggs, hours of entertainment and valuable lessons on life (and death). All good for children.
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