<prompt> Human: By being prepared I mean something along the lines of:- Ways to save money on baby items toys, diapers, bottles, wipes, etc..- Best types of savings plans to set up for your kids.- Things insurances will cover that most people arent aware of.- Financial plans to help keep families out of the red.and pretty much anything else that you can think of that would be beneficial knowledge. Thank you for those that take interest in this post, I am incredibly excited to be a first time dad, and I want to do everything I can to do right by my kids.  <response>: Hold off on diapers I know someone said buy them now. Reason being is that you may actually fly past the newborn diaper phase and go straight to diaper size 1. Its worth while to buy a basic 20 dollar pack of newborn diapers, but dont go buy 50 bucks of it as your kid may only wear it for 2 to 3 weeks.Buy PLENTY of wipes. You will go through those. Buy ones you like, but buy something like 20 to 30 packs of them.Hand me down toys are the best, hand me down clothes are the best, but if people want to buy you clothing, tell them to purchase 3 to 6 month sizes, not the newborn to 3 month sizes. The newborn to 3 month sizes vary greatly in dimensions, most wont fit after a week. The 3 to 6 months will last you longer and be more useful.Baby bathtub. You can get them at walmart for 20 to 30 bucks. Make sure you have a carseat, and a base, and have it installed and know how to use it BEFORE baby is born. The hospital will not discharge baby unless hes in a carseat. Play with it for a half hour.Pack a go bag. The only real things you will need is a change of underwear, sweater, Pajamas, slippers, socks, deoderant. You should be at the hospital for a day, maybe 2 tops. I would throw 2 powerbars in there and 2 redbulls.If your wife is working, find out what her office policy is regarding disability insurance. Some offices mandate that you have disability insurance as they will only pay 80 of her check, while disability pays the other 20.Call your insurance carrier and make sure they know you are having baby. Many require prior authorization. Make sure the hospital and doctor is in coverage. Also ask them for the estimate of the BABYS COST AFTER BIRTH. Baby is covered under mommy but they start generating a separate bill at birth. None of the calculators online estimate this, or mention it. The hospital will not mention it unless you directly ask them. Your insurance carrier will not mention this unless you directly ask them. Be careful because you may wind up with another 1500 to 2000 dollar bill because of this.extra note: have the insurance faxemail their estimatecoverage policy over if you dont have it. If you find your provider online on the insurance website, print it out. Youll have to check 2 or 3 times with actual humans in order to verify coverage.Insurance will usually cover lactation counseling, even at home. Use it.A baby requires VERY FEW toys. The only things you will need is the following: blanket crib rocker after 2 weeks or so diapers wipes lanolin for mommy when she breastfeeds. Swaddle blankets 3 will do. Learn how to swaddle. noise machine this helps Beyond Belief. its cheap. 1 hat you dont need 15 hats, 1 will do and the hospital usually provides one. Have an extra. A cover to cover baby carseat when you take baby outside protect from wind. A basic blanket will do.You dont need booties, socks, 100 clothing..mainly because you want to be able to change diaper as easily as possible.Day baby is home, sign up for a 529 and put 100 bucks in it. Post and mail this out to your family and ask them if they want to contribute, send it to the 529.Be ready to fight the hospital on the bill. Ask for the itemized bill and cross out what was not done. Alot of times, they go off a script and dont always go over 1 by 1 what was done, just what was normally done.For daddy, bring a pack of sleeping pills and a pack of tylenol. Hospital will not provide you this. You WILL need sleep and you will be so amped you may not get any. Headache soon ensues.You dont need a pacifier. Not needed till there 6 weeks or so.A personal note, make sure mommy RESTS. No running out, no fetching stuff, no picking up stuff. Make her be bedbound because she needs time to recover. She just pushed a human out of her body. Fetching stuff is your job. Keep the house warm. Some object to this but I pumped my temperature to 76. Its easier to keep baby warm, and it helps to keep mommy warm. You can drop it a degree per week till your at normal it also helps when transferring baby from swaddle to clothing as the home isnt cold while they are sitting there naked.Keep visitors to a minimum for the first 2 or 3 days as baby and mommy need to rest.. you do to.No major purchases or construction projects.Assuming mommys 4 months in.. Id save every penny you have. Pay minimum payments on EVERYTHING and just sock every cent into your savings account. Once mommy and baby are home safe, and you have your basics, use the cannon of cash you have and clear off any excess debts or use it to start up the 529 or deal with any financials such as the probably need for daycare.BIG TIP. Search out 4 daycares in your area and get on their waiting lists TODAY. Some have a year or two long waitlist yes people who dont even have kids are on their waitlist. DO NOT WAIT ON THIS GO DO IT NOW. If you dont decide to go that route after baby is born, you only lost 25 bucks being on the list.DO THE DAYCARE CRAP NOW. Visit, get their names, do the tour, get on their list.DO THIS SHIT NOW.You can save on daycare by creating a dependent fsa, which you can route 5 grand pre tax and use it for daycare and nanny stuff. 