Tips on reducing costs

Just wanted to start a thread on the subject because being low on cash forces me to get creative and I'm sure some of you have been there too.

So post some of your advice on reducing costs of your hydrogen experimentation.

I do not own my own machining equipment. Recently I contemplated buying a miter saw and a drill press in order to help me in my goal to building my current electrolysis cell design. If I bought the cheapest ones available at Lowes then it would have cost me just over $200. That's two hundred dollars I could spend on my project otherwise and that's for the poorest quality sold in the store. They range from one to four hundred dollars each.

So how did I solve this?

I asked around.

At church.
At School.
Asked family and friends to ask their co-workers, employees, patients, and customers.

I found the solve through a friend who is a pilot instructor. His boss has a machine shop he uses to build planes and do repairs. We went over there today and he gave us free reign on his equipment.

He is a former pit-crew member of some Nascar team. Very bright guy. After I explained to him what I was doing he even lend his own hand in finishing up the stainless steel I had just cut, drilled, and taped. He asked to be kept up to date on my progress.

CAUTION: be prepared to answer questions, don't make up answers if you don't know, if you don't know then look it up and check valid sources to confirm your research.