Cheaper popcorn

Popped on top of the stove, popcorn is a lot cheaper than microwave servings. Learn how to do it if you don't know, then grind regular salt in a coffee or pepper mill to use on it. Keep the "old maids" (kernels that don't pop) to feed to the birds (separate them out before salting or flavoring the popcorn) or mill them into corn meal.

Grow your own bird seed

With spring in the wings, it's time to think of growing things! If you like to feed birds year 'round, you can grow your own birdseed. Just how much of a dent you can make in the birdseed budget depends on how much room you devote to it, but even a couple of square feet will yield a worthwhile crop. Plant whatever seeds you feed the birds and you'll have the right ones. Whether it's millet, safflower, sunflower or any of a dozen more types, you can grow it densely, seeding a small area generously. Keep birds away until they've germinated by covering with screen, or start them indoors in clumps.

You can harvest the seeds when they're ripe and store them for winter days, or leave them on the plant and the birds will find them.