Help! I am beginning the process of remodeling a bathroom and am overwhelmed already.

[llmart]

35. I have always been proud of how we managed to save for that first house.

I was determined to own a home and I saved every extra dollar and penny. I had a budget, very little to work with but I did it. I can still remember the exact monthly expenses, because I wrote every penny down that we spent. It was always just the basics of living that we spent on and nothing else. Anything that was even remotely "extra" went into a passbook savings account. When we bought that house we had $17,000 in that savings account and I said we'd put $15,000 down and save the other $2,000 to buy a washer and dryer and a refrigerator. Back then, sellers didn't leave those items for you like they mostly do now. The house was $45,000, so we actually put down more than 20%. I was 24 years old with a 3 year old and another baby on the way. We had a handful of used furniture to move into that house but I always said the furniture could come later. We'd been married five years at the time we bought our house.

When I see those couples on TV I want to reach through the screen and throttle them with their comments about, "Oh, I can't stand that color" or "Ewww, the kitchen is from the 90's."