@PurplePansy05 when I costed it all out last time, it came to about €2k so I think that's about right. We ended up doing it for less due to a lot of second hand/generous friends giving us stuff. But it's not a bad amount to budget if you can afford it, and if you have any left over just save it.
Note you do not HAVE to spend £2-3k!! If you go for cheaper brands, second hand and avoid a lot of the pointless things it can be much cheaper but if you want mid-range stuff and mostly new then yes I think that's a reasonable minimum.
I would defo recommend NOT buying stuff that you won't need immediately. For example a highchair isn't necessary until you start weaning. Most baby toys are completely pointless until at least 3 months old. We didn't really do up DS2's bedroom until he was about a year old when he went into it. By all means, make a list and again if you see things cheaper in advance then snap up the deal, but there is no need to go crazy and plan months ahead. The shops will still be there when they are 3/4/7/12 months old, and almost anything can be delivered online these days. Unless they close due to a pandemic, of course :o but you should have plenty of time to browse this summer.
But yes, the year or two surrounding the birth of a baby and when they are little is likely to be the most financially lean period of your life, due in part to the increased costs of a baby but also due to the reduced earning potential.
My old employer and my doctor are disagreeing about whether I'm allowed to work now 
so that's helpful, as they are supposed to still be paying me but they haven't been and I thought I'd chase it up. They have offered me the job back if I want to continue though so that's nice 
I would love to go back TBH but just not sure whether it's risky or not!
DH had all these plans of getting DS2 used to his room by doing nappy changes in there and we never even did a single one :o We just used the sofa with this travel changing mat every time! We now have a proper changing space set up in the big bedroom so perhaps we will use it this time.
I find "nursery furniture" is usually incredibly overpriced. My recommendation would be to either get a cot (120x60 size) that fits in your room, move it to their room as soon as you want to put them in there, or use a bedside cot/crib/moses basket in your room, and get a cotbed for their room (140x70 size, converts to toddler bed) for their room. Ikea ones are really reasonable, or we ended up with a really cute alien design one from a Russian company, as he has a space themed room. Then just buy normal furniture as and when. DS2 still doesn't have a set of drawers. We kept his clothes in a set of tiny Ikea plastic boxes which now store toys. Now his clothes are bigger, we first moved them into the shelves of an old wardrobe we already had, but that's going I think. So we were going to get him a set of ordinary Ikea drawers, but the one I wanted was sold out. Currently they are just piled on the old changing table that I want to sell.
In Germany it's really common to have a changing table that slots onto the top of a set of drawers which I think is quite genius! For example this one for MALM: www.amazon.co.uk/Kidsaw-Changing-Board-IKEA-White/dp/B07HWTF323/?tag=mumsnetforu03-21
But you could also just stick a changing mat on top of a set of drawers, or again Ikea do some really clever/simple changing tables, like Sniglar for £25, or there's one for £60 that turns into a bookshelf, one for £90 that turns into a desk. Changing tables are one of those things that splits people - some shell out for one and then never use it and find it an expensive waste of space. Others say it absolutely saved their back.
It's getting a matching set of cot + wardrobe + drawers which ends up being £££ and it really doesn't matter - pick a nice cot, and then a nice wardrobe and/or drawer set later in the same or coordinating wood or colour.