we want to do many things but they cost money

Finally, a title that sums up my post! J and I have been constantly talking about improving our living and ensuring that we're environment friendly and cost efficient. But they all cost money and we still have debts. What are we to do? Help!

New carpets

We stripped off the ugly carpet in our lounge. Luckily the floor boards are in tip top shape so there was no need for us to improve them. The hall carpeting from the lounge to the kitchen will be removed one of these days too, so that leaves our 3 bedrooms to put new carpets in. That's roughly 50sqm of floor space to cover. I'm estimating that would cost us between $1500 and $2000. I'd have been okay to keep the old carpeting but it really is ugly, and I mean that in terms of health and safety. It's dark blue originally but it's looks more like blue-gray now. The dust just won't come off easily when I vaccum. Ew. We don't have underfloor insulation. The roof insulation is hardly any help. It's starting to get cold here in NZ.

New kitchen

We have a vintage kitchen, not vintage-looking but really vintage. It's the original kitchen from when the house was built in the early 1950s. It's not functional and our kitchen things and pantry stuff are scattered in different cupboards because that's where they fit, but not where they would functionally be. At this time we can live with the set up. A new kitchen, though on sale, can be anywhere between $8000 to $20000. That range pretty much covers our style and preference. We won't go over $15000 I swear.

New car

We just want a fuel-efficient car with adequate space, and at the same time doesn't sound like an empty can in the highway. From our research, the results of cars we get from our criteria are somewhere between $25000 and $45000 brand new. Because fuel-efficient cars don't depreciate quickly, older models don't even drop below $20000. Sigh.

New hot water heat pump

We were thinking of going for solar panels until I stumbled on this. We can get it for $3500 from Westpac Ecoshop I think. Our current one still seems alright but we think it's the ONLY electric item in our house that eats up our bill. It's old and inefficient.

Unless we win the lotto, we can only afford one at a time but we can't afford any one of them yet! Well, despite that we still booked a free no-obligation quote with Carpet One. We think new carpeting is what we should do first. I need advice!