i love cloth diapering. i actually like washing them... hanging them out to dry just makes me feel good.

we use pro wraps for covers and prefolds for diapers. we got them here
www.cottonbabies.com
we used disposables at nighttime. maggie was a heavy wetter and i could never get them to stop leaking at night. it was such a releif when i came down off my high horse and allowed myself one cloth diaper a day. i have heard wool soakers are great for nighttime but never tried them.
maggie has never had bad diaper rash except when shes in disposables. i sware cloth makes a difference.
i have to admit tho... i never got the largest size working with maggie and she is in all disposables now. shhh, don't tell.

just found these in my photobucket.

Acony Bell's Etsy Shop
www.aconybell.etsy.com

I've used a bunch of different cloth diapers and all of them seem to have their pros and cons.
I've used flat diapers with covers(w/o pins or snappies) and they worked but sometimes my babies would poop out the side when the diaper bunched up or shifted.
I've used a few all-in-ones with a flannel center and a fleece shell and liked them for naps and potty training but found that they would "breathe through" moisture if my baby had a big pee.
I've used fitted cloth diapers (mother ease, home made, garage sale, whatever) with seperate diaper covers and found that i like fitted cloth the best (mother ease rocks and lasts forever--really), prefer snaps to velcro (snaps can break but velcro collects lint and eventually kind of melts and warps) and would choose old fashioned plastic pants over breathable covers any day. (the cheapy gerber plastic covers NEVER leak whereas the breathable ones will get all damp and eventually soak my babes clothes).
There are lots of diaper companies that will sell you a few of their diapers at a trial rate so maybe try buying a few of a couple different styles/brands and figure out what you like before buying a bunch. As well consignment stores, thrift shops and kids stores will sometimes have good deals on used diapers so check them out.
Finally, if money is a big concern why not try making your own? I've made fitted diapers out of old t-shirts, flannel sheets and sweatshirts. To make flat diapers is even simpler. Google homemade cloth diaper patterns and see what comes up!

We use prefolds and Bummis snap wraps. You may have to try a few different diapers/wraps to find the system that works best for you and your kids. Some kinds fit great on one kid's body type, and on another kid's body type, will leak, or not fit well. Good luck!

I tried a bunch in the beginning. What didn't work for me were where the cotton diaper goes on first followed by some sort of cover (prorap, bummis, bumkins). What worked were the pocket type diapers, where there's snaps, a waterproof outer layer, thin soft fleece next to baby's bottom, and a pocket opening in the back between the waterproof and fleece layer that runs along the length of the diaper into which you put the cotton layer (whether it's a folded up cotton diaper, prefold, or pad-like insert made of layers of hemp, cotton, or terry). I like that this kept the pee wicked away from the botton. I also like that it went on just like a disposable with adjustable fit (the snaps offer many combinations), no fussy wrapping or dealing with two layers. I like how the poop came off the fleece and was more resistant to staining (all stains wash out within a few washes anyway). The brand I went with was Fuzzi Bunz. For the next baby I'm registering for some more Swaddlebees which seem identical and happen to be available on Amazon.com where my registry is.

The more diapers you have, the less laundry you do. I believe I had a little over 20 in each size. In the beginning this meant laundry every other night. The washing is this:

Scrape off poop into toilet.

Separate insert from diaper & throw both into a cotton bag (easily sewn by taking a yard of sturdy cotton material, folding in half lengthwise, and sewing up the bottom and side) that's in a securely lidded garbage can.

When you only have about 4 clean diapers left, take the whole cotton bag, hold your breath and dump it and its contents into washing machine. Set for Rinse cycle. come back, throw in 1/4 to 1/2 usual amount of free&clear detergent in and start a regular Hot wash cycle. come back and set for an extra rinse (or set the extra rinse button if u r lucky to have one).

transfer all to dryer and tumble dry low (ours were dry on a timed 90 minute cycle; the inserts are so absorbant that they keep the wash water a long time).

hope that helps. very noble of you to undertake this endeaver. i promise it's not so bad.
~~~
Huge Wonder parody kids shirts
Rockosaurus Rex kids' rock

Their forums are SO informative, and the ladies there are really helpful.

I'm only on day two of CD'ing, and we're doing prefolds and Bummies covers so far, but I didn't buy a ton of either because I have a ton of contours to go in place of the prefolds and the covers are SO much a personal preference thing. I mean, you may find that something that works great for Lily won't work for DC #2 because of different shape or different diaper-filling habits. So if I were you, I'd check out some of the things that experienced CD mamas say are tried and true (Fuzzi Bunz, Bummis Super Whisper Wraps, Baby BeeHinds, and Motherease all come to mind), and figure out which YOU like best. I thought that would be a pain in the butt because I wanted something I KNEW would work and wouldn't have to think about, but I've come to learn that it's oddly fun to try new stuff to try to perfect the system.

I haven't tried it at night yet...I REALLY don't want to change her more than once in the middle of the night, and I don't see how I could POSSIBLY double-diaper or do something like an insert for her...she's so small! So I'm still thinking about that one.

You probably already knew all of that, but I figured I'd chime in. We can be CD newbies together.

Okay, judging from the sound of it, Haven just had her One Massive Dirty Diaper of the day. I swear, it's like she saves it all up so she only has to go through the effort once a day...here's hoping the fold I did with that prefold absorbs it all! *crosses fingers*

there is a lot about this if you search HM for it too.
I tried a lot of different things.
I did chinese unbleached pre-folds with bumkins wraps. They don't leak, have good ventilation and are easy as pie to use. I bought enough diapers to last 3-5 days so I had plenty and didn't have to do laundry too often (so I bought a 40 or so prefolds and 5 wraps which you just rinse out in the sink and let them air dry- the wraps are sized so there is a cost there - you have to buy the next size, but in your case the wraps for lily would eventually work for the little one, so thats good).
I tried pro-wraps (leaked), bummis (didn't leak but did leech pee out through the trim which ended up being the same as leaking) and the impse vimse and wool soakers and fuzzi bunz were all "too expensive" for me, the mother-somethings that are one size fits all I didn't try because my kid is small and those diapers are HUGE. They still wouldn't fit. I tried some others too but I don't remember their names (for the first round of cloth diapering I bought all different covers so I would know what to buy and it was great)
If I had it to do over I very well might invest in fuzzi bunz as I hear the best things about them. They aren't bulky, have good ventilation, are soft, don't leak much and last a long time and you can change the size and they aren't too bulky.
Night - most of the time the bumkins just don't leak, but you can add an extra prefold diaper or a special nighttime insert if you want. Some people do an extra diaper and a fleece thingy so the pee isn't sitting on their skin all night.
Travel - if we go out of town I use disposables. I cheat. I do it because I don't want to inflict diapers on friends and families washing machines and because it sucks to have to tote a ton of diapers around. If I am just going on a day trip I just put the used ones in my waterproof bag and take them home to wash.
Cloth is as easy as disposable once you get used to it. The extra laundry isn't that big of a deal and you never have to worry about running out of diapers. My laundry routine was very easy (lots of info online) and I didn't do special extra rinses or soak them and they came out clean and pretty every time.