This is for all those bike riders out there who hate to spend good money on stuff when they can make it themselves, or fix it. or, alternatively, for those who want something that may not be on the market (like a 800,000 candlepower spotlight for their bicycle! More on that later...)
Some of these ideas are hokey, some hooey, but some work, although often better than others or not so well. Ahem!
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That brings up my DISCLAIMER: I'm a poor bloke with a bicycle so if you try this crap yourself and burn your eyebrows off, blow up the house next door, or electricute your spouse, don't come trying to sue me. You were warned.
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The 800,000 candlepower spotlight:
I actually took the spotlight from my car, designed to be plugged into the cigarette ligther and run off the car battery, and rigged it to run off eight AA batteries contained in a length of pipe. The 8 batteries gave the same 12 volts as a car battery, but apparently all volts are not equal. It was amazing, blindingly bright, like a steam engine going down the street.... for all of two blocks. After about ten minutes -- less than seven of actual ride time -- the light was dull and soon went dead. The batteries were exhausted. Because of this I never bothered to find a better way of securing the massive light to my handlebars than toe clip straps through the metal loops on either end of the light; I only used it once.
If at first you don't succeed:
Undeterred, I built a second light. A few bucks (literally) at Radio Hack for some tiny battery powered bulbs and sockets, some cutting of pvc pipe, and the use of a solder gun, and viola... A more practical size bike light running on two AA batts that won't burn out in ten minutes...
The light and battery casings are both pvc pipe. inside the pvc pipe of the battery casing I have lined it with a highlighter's plastic barrel so the batteries won't rattle. The springs on the + and - sides are homemade from twisted paperclips soldered to the wires. One end is capped by a cork the other by velox bar cap.
The light casing is capped on one end by a velox bar cap and on the other by the clear buld cover, in this case a small plastic jar, minus the lid, that happened to fit snug over the pvc casing. To turn it on you connect the battery pack to the light with a plug. I was going to use a push switch and run two lights off of 4 AAs to make it brighter but one thing at a time, i haven't soldered anything in years (the spotlight was easier to rig, no soldering needed).
Easy Chain and pad combo:
Not wanting to spend up to 80$ US or so (some palces more) for a Kryptonite-type large padded chain to lock my bike, I found the next best thing. I went to a hardware store and looked at thier loose chain. This is just what it sounds like, a long length of chain on a roll. You pick out how much you want and they cut it for you. The guy cut me a length which was just enough to have a long length of chain to carry around my wait, and a shorter length about as long as a ruler to have in my bag with a slightly slammer padlock when I felt like going light. For the waist-length section of chain I got a big Masterlock, the kind used for locking construction sites. Total cost around $40 bucks.
Once home, I padded the chain with innertube. I took an old mountainbike tube and cut it in half so it was one long tube rather than a circle, cutting it one one side of the valve. Then I cut that end off, losing the valve. I cut several innertubes this way, then threaded the chain through. It was a tight fit but when done, I had both the long and short length of chains covered in several thicknesses of inner tube rubber, guaranteed not to chip the paint off my bike. 
Braze-on removal: For those who don't have access to a torch, removing brazed-on mountings from a frame -- cable guides, etc. -- can be a major pain in the @ss. What works for me is to find a narrow phillips head screwdriver with a short blade. I insert this through the top tube cable guide and twist. It snaps off. Cleanly. No filing and possible nicking the tube of the frame. Repeat twice to remove all three. Touch up the spots with paint and it's good to go. This works primarily for bikes with three cable guides on the top tube for a brake cable housing; I have tested it on others however and it may pull a hole in the frame tubing, so do this at yer own risk. For this style of cable mounting it works admirably, at least in my case! The result is a very clean fixed wheel bicycle frame.
Okay, not free, but for a few bucks from a convenience store and some time in the garage... If you're like me you'd love a high power multi led light, something that can fry drivers where they stand like a jedi lightsaber. Unfortunately these cost a lot of dough. The next best thing (it's nowhere near the same quality of construction but it works) is this:
Buy a inexpensive LED flashlight. I got mine at a quik mart type store across the street from the lbs for under ten bucks. They had it up by the register with the novelty cigarette lighters. I found in my garage a rear reflector clamp of the appropriate diameter (although you could always shim it, it's not like it's going to be load bearing like a seatpost or anything). I originally planned to bolt another reflector clamp to the handlebars and attached the light's clamp via a bolt and wingnut through both holes. Would allow no tools removal, but I wanted a better way. Eureka. I stumbled on the cinch-type clamp that came with my Planet bike clip on rear fender. Bolted the clamp on the light to that, and the whole thing goes on and off the bike in a secord or so by flipping a quick release lever. Bright as heck, lights the road ahead for you, can be seen from a ways off for them, and it's cheap. Plus with the metal casing ont he light it kinda looks like a short squat jedi lightsaber...
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