First things first...bubble gum, paper clip and a swiss army knife...if you can't MacGyver a solution with that, you're not ready to call yourself a handyman, oops I meant handyperson(aka Jedi Master, ruler of the world, smartest person in the room, boss, etc)Oh yeah, I forgot a twelve pack of your favorite cheap beer.Haha...really, a good Leatherman multi-tool is invaluable and will do most easy work, and can be part of your "everyday carry".$80And then it depends what you will do and what you like to do.

In the area  (the entire area under the upper cabinets) the tiles, mastic and grout would probably run not more than $100.Gail

LL appears to sell vinyl planks as well for cheap but they all seem to require that you stick it to the subfloor and I rather not gum up my subfloor and have pieces of vinyl come up later anyway.

Examples are  floor tile mastic, fireproofing on structural columns, and insulation.