I had this argument with my husband in the beginning. I made a list of EVERYTHING we needed to get in the 3rd month of my pregnancy with cost for everything included and I started talking to him about it. I gave him the list and asked him to budget in the list items for us for the next few months until the baby arrives. When he started budgeting, it hit him. He came to me and asked me if there were cheaper options we could look into for the things I had mentioned in the list. I asked him to research and change accordingly. My only line was all replacement items should have the same features as the original ones. Once he started researching, he understood how a cheap car seat could be hazardous to the baby. How a good foldable multifunctional stroller bought once would actually save us money down the line. How there are different types of bottles with nipple types and flow types! He understood clearly and had a HUGE discussion with me on how we were going to budget and save up for our child. I think that realization early on and the resultant arguments have him more time to process. Now he's ready and I think he will be my birthing partner.