I would still recommend holding onto some saving for the just in case. Other than that the materials now are cheap and I did the same exact thing you are talking about many months back (all the work myself). My kitchen only costed 9500 total but I didnt spend much on cabinets. Im only about 25k into the house right now and thats after redoing my small pool. I got all the pool equipt off craigslist including a free heater that works awesome (awesome guy in North Park gave it to me).