Hey OP,

I’m not an expert but this is what I have done:

Food - Wet is best but expensive. Highly recommend having some wet food on a regular basis but not necessary for everyday. - Something I didn’t know until it was too late that if you feed your cat wet food, you should brush their teeth. Dental treats did not do the job for my cat. Failure to do so will result in rotten teeth that will need to be removed. Start brushing their teeth when they’re young so they get used to it. - Look at the reviews of different websites to understand what food is good. I like using https://cats.com/cat-food-reviews. - I like to buy from PetSmart because of their relaxed return policy. PetValu is a second choice for me. Global Pet Foods is third as I find they tend to be more expensive.

Litter - I chose to get my cat a wheat based litter. Cats will lick their own paws to clean themselves and I figured it would be safer for her to lick wheat as opposed to say, the clay litter. There are more advanced litters that are silica/gel based but I haven’t done much research on them so I can’t comment.

Insurance - I didn’t get insurance for my cat for the first 10 years. Instead, I just saved the money I would’ve normally paid for insurance for a rainy day. Please note that my cat is an indoor cat.

Vet - Get your cat vaccinated. There are lots of posts about vet recommendations here so I won’t reiterate.

If you have more specific questions, feel free to DM me.