New Piggy Owner. Mislead by breeders!

Hello Everyone,
I'm a new happy owner of two 4 week old Skinny Pig male and a standard female guinea pig. Both are absolutely adorable. Before I made my purchase I did do some research on what is involved in taking care of these little guys. I had a GP before about 15 years ago, when it was acceptable to keep them in glass aquariums. Despite her home environment, my piggy lived to be eight years old. In my apartment I cannot keep a dog and wanted a pet and remember how I enjoyed my GP. So I decided to go ahead and purchase one.

As I researched I see how different the care is from back when I owed one. I learned about C&C cages, fleece liners, their diet consisting on vegetables and found out I really had a lot to learn.

I talked to two breeders (which I found on Craigslist) and I can't believe the misleading information I received. First I was told that it was not necessary to buy a C&C cage or go to the expense of purchasing a fleece liner. That all I needed was a large plastic container. The longest and highest one I could find (this advise came from both breeders). For bedding I was told to use pine or aspen shavings above a layer of newspapers and that would have to been cleaned at least every two days. For vitamin C, I was given "Tang" powdered drink mix to prepare as per the instructions and this would alleviate the need for vegetables. I was told this was the least expensive and healthiest way to house my guinea pigs.

I was thrilled to come home with them and I continued to do countless (seriously) hours of reading on the web, youtubing and reading post on this site. Boy, was I mislead.......

I've have determined that they will mostly definitely need a bigger cage when they reach adult size. The aspen bedding can run me over $30.00 a month, with daily cleanings, so fleece would be the way to go. And I couldn't find any site that recommended "Tang" as a source for Vitamin C. It amazes me how breeders can mislead and misinform people and its all about the sale to them. I made the decision to buy them because I believed in what they told me and keeping these little guys would be an expensive pet to have. I have limited financial resources (don't we all) and I find myself wondering if I had made the right choice or should I find a home that can give them what they need. I'm still calculating the overall expense to come to a final determination if I can afford to keep them.

I see the elaborate C&C cages people have, along with the fleece liners and all the cage accessories and OMG that's about $600 and up.

My other concern is the urine smell and odor. I hear conflicting stories, some say the fleece liners really has cut down on the urine odor and frequency of cleaning the cage, others say that the fleece has not helped and they find themselves with daily washing of urine soak towels and uhaul pads.

So where I am as of today?? I don't mind investing the $150.00 in the C&C cage. I've bought my fleece, and have some old towels..
But if after all this I find myself dealing with bad urine smell which will require me to do daily cleaning (don't mind the daily sweeping up the poop pellets and cleaning the hay out) and washing of urine soak towels, that's the part I don't know I could handle and then find I've spend so much money and it was not for me.

Any advise????

TP