I have bought a mix of second hand & new. The SH ones are still awesome, so I can strongly suggest that to relieve some the financial burden. For DH, I bought a lot of All In Ones. They are the most like disposables (with the least fuss), but as I'm a bit more savvy on such things, I also have fitted nappies that require covers, and some extra boosting. We'll see how well I do when I finally have the baby!

As for the outlay - when you think about how many nappy changes you are doing a day, it won't take long for the cloth nappies to pay themselves off, compared to what you're just throwing in the bin every day.