In her book Reborn, the cash-strapped former glamour model, 40, revealed how she was forced to splash out £18,000 on a steel beam for her Sussex home.
She wrote: "I don't regret choosing the house at all but it has become something of a money pit.
"For example, the first thing we did was to board up all the overhead beams.
"If there's one thing I hate it's those old-fashioned cottage beams. I much prefer clean lines and a super-modern feel."
So Katie and her builders got to work – knocking down walls and going way, way over budget.
She added: "We knocked the existing kitchen through to the dining room.
"For me, the kitchen should be at the heart of any home.
"I had a vision of the preparation area opening out to a beautiful dining room overlooking our twelve acres.
"The builder's guesstimate turned out to be half of what it eventually cost us to have a huge steel reinforcement put in between the rooms when the wall was eventually knocked through.
"I was quite pi**ed off. The £18,000 extra we'd have had to splash out could have been put to good use elsewhere.
"Like I always say, money doesn't grow on trees and now I'm the bread-winner with the sole responsibility of looking after my family, I keep a tight hold on the purse strings!"
Katie was once worth £45million but has suffered a string of financial disasters, which have left her staring bankruptcy in the face.
She narrowly avoided bankruptcy for the second time this week when her hearing was pushed back to December after she submitted her Individual Voluntary Agreement – a plan to pay off the debt – at the last minute.
She is now trying to cut a deal where she pays her creditors £1,000 a month, meaning she may not be debt-free until she's in her 50s.
The reality star's financial woes have led to the demise of her parade of pink vehicles.
Her pink Range Rover was pictured getting towed away after she got behind the wheel despite being banned for speeding.
Then, the car sustained damage after it was crashed into a bush in Woolwich, south east London, after which Katie was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving.
Meanwhile, her pink horse box turned up at auction on an industrial estate in Wales after she failed to sell it on eBay.
However, there is some good news. Katie’s been assured that she can stay in her £2million home until after Christmas.
An insider told The Sun Online: "The good news is she’s definitely at home this Christmas, but it might be her last.
"As she has a family, four of which under 12, then she’ll get 12 months saving grace, but she knows this is her final Yuletide there unless a miracle happens."
The insider added: "She knows she’ll have to sell the house and rent as no one will lend her a mortgage, there’s no equity in the house after paying off the creditors, and no savings.
“She’s struggling even to find rental accommodation as her credit rating is so bad, so she’s having to use her mum and stepdad to act as guarantors.”
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