We hear numbers all the time about the incredible cost of a new kitchen ($25,000, $40,000, $70,000!). It’s enough to scare us out of the project entirely. Yes, it’s certainly possible to spend that much on a new kitchen, but if you know where to cut back, it’s also possible to spend a lot less.

First, this article is written for those on a budget. If you can buy the best of everything, stop reading. Most of us have to choose where we will spend our money. Let’s look at some of the major cost-increasing items in a kitchen remodel and decide where we’re going to spend our money.

In the home appliance category, the main driver is range. (Can you live with your existing appliances by the way?). Need the “status symbol” six-burner gas range with twin ovens below? If so, plan to spend around $10,000. However, if you’re okay with the status quo 4 burner stainless steel stove/one oven, you shouldn’t be spending more than $4,000 for a very high quality stove and you can spend much less if you want. Want $1,000 off, find a nick and scratch store.

Can you live with laminate flooring at $2 to $3 per square foot? Most hardwood will cost $5 to $8 per square foot and that’s what you’ll spend on most tile as well. Of course, there are many brands of hardwood and tile that will easily dwarf $10 per square foot.

If you absolutely need hardwood over laminate, discount stores like Lumber Liquidators will have many brands and types of hardwood for less than $5 per square foot. Also, it’s not uncommon for stores like Home Depot, Lowes, Color Tile, etc. to “blow out” certain tile lines for around $2 per square foot for items that are discontinued, etc. You can find deals if you search hard enough.

Tiles designed for the backsplash can be expensive, easily dwarfing $20 per square foot. Remember, any tile that is meant to be walked on can also act as a backsplash, and any cheap 4 x 4 square tile can be installed diagonally across a backsplash. The shingle savings will more than make up for the additional labor charge.

The typical kitchen has 23 linear feet of counter space. This can be expensive. Marble can cost $80 per square foot, as can granite, which can go as high as $150 per square foot. The good news is that granite is getting cheaper and where you buy your granite makes a big difference. There are deals to be found there. As you probably already know, this is not the area to cut corners. The heart of the kitchen is the countertop.

Make this decision first along with your cabinets, and plan the rest of the kitchen around these two things.

Concrete countertops are all the rage, but don’t think concrete means “cheap.” These are even more fashionable than granite today.

The main expense in the kitchen remodeling project is the cabinets. The cost will depend on whether you choose completely custom cabinets or stock. The prices here will be “all over the place”. Are you bringing in a carpenter for a one-of-a-kind Brazilian cherry wood or shopping at Ikea, $20,000 difference? (Don’t laugh, Ikea’s cabinets aren’t as easy to assemble as their TV stands, but they do have some beautiful cabinets at reasonable prices. Although they’ll tell you you can assemble and install them yourself, we don’t recommend it.)

Cabinet handles (hardware) can range from $4 to almost $15 per knob and handle. Again, this is one area where if you can live with what comes in “stock” it will save you a lot of money that you can use elsewhere.

How much money do you have left for the sink and fixture? We’d spend less money on the sink here, spending about $200 on generic stainless instead of the $500 or $600 for name-brand noise-dampening, and put our money on the faucet, where there can be a big difference in quality between $80 and $200 It’s not worth saving $100 on the fixture because a plumber will charge you $150 just to walk through the door. Install a quality fixture that will last 15 years and keep the plumber at bay.