Ruth,
It was great to read your post. With regard to the material cost, what sort of "discount" do you find yourself getting for things like bricks, sinks, toilets, taps, flooring, etc, relative to recommended retail prices. For instance, the brick companies all publish recommended retail prices, but from what I gather builders pay well below the retail figures.
I guess what I'm asking is, what sort of price relative to recommended retail do you normally expect to pay?
Cheers,
Casa