Americans spent $129 billion on consumer technology last year, but it’s a good bet that number could fall in 2008, thanks to the slow economy.

whether you’re pondering a reduced gadget budget, though, don’t despair.

There are many ways to reduce your expenses without going cold turkey on tech.

Whether it’s piping free World Wide Web video to your TV rather than paying for cable, selling your old gizmos to retailers for store credit on new gadgets or just shopping smarter on the Web, there are plenty of low-cost ways to keep yourself in the digital life to which you’ve become accustomed.

Here are some tips on how to save in big and small ways on the tech toys that prepare life fun and productive.

TV Shows

whether all you watch is the local networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.), don’t pay for cable or satellite service. A traditional antenna will do (go to www.antennaweb.org to see what over-the-air stations are available where you live). You can even get high-definition network broadcasts over-the-air free with plain rabbit ears. However, that will only work until Feb. 17, when all U.S. televisions will transition to an all-digital system. Those who own TVs with rabbit ears will have to get a converter box to change digital programming into analog. For more details, see www.dtvtransition.org.

whether you want to dump your cable bill but still want to watch cable shows and movies, you have several options: There are free, legal sites such as Hulu.com and YouTube (MGM recently announced it will post full-length movies on YouTube, and other studios are expected to follow) and paid services such as iTunes and Netflix’s free streaming video service for its traditional mail subscribers.

Even whether you don’t want to deal with scouting for free videos across the Web and would rather keep your cable service, you can…

[Source] dhiram