Consider repainting cabinets. Refacing is good, but repainting is cheaper and can look fantastic. I moved into our last home, and it had cheapo fake wood cabinets with a white-washed sheen (very ugly), and while we spent money on replacing all the moulding in the house (made of the same wood), I just took the doors down and painted them myself.
Be sure, though, if you do, that you do it right. Remove all the hardware. Wash them, then SAND them fully, then PRIME. Let it dry overnight, SAND, then paint, let dry, sand, and paint again. I painted three coats on mine, but I was also painting them white. I've seen the same thing done well with dark brown and country blue, but the sanding is very important. I used a motorized hand sander (which is pretty inexpensive). It took a long time, I admit, but it cost a can of paint and one of primer. VERY cheap.
Resurfacing could also work, but would be more expensive. If the doors are hideous, though, I would at least consider buying doors, then paint the rest of it to match (or have the underside resurfaced, too--don't worry, the installer will make sure the other stuff is all covered).
As to counter tops, options are endless. With our current house we picked corian, but with our last house, the neighborhood wasn't nice enough for the higher finishes, so we bought a formica that had the look of granite (I think the color was even called "granite"). Some have an etched sort of surface, but the one we picked was smooth, but mottled to look like white/gray/black granite. Much cheaper and easier to maintain than granite, too. If you want VERY cheap, consider resurfacing the formica. Kits to do that (complete with the paint-on resin and mottling sprinkles) are far cheaper even than a formica replacement. Then again, I don't know how they wear, and even the high-end formica countertops are not that expensive.
I hope that helps!