Some of the design shows say that they saved money by buying left over granite from jobs. I have a very narrow, but long bar area I am looking to put granite on, but want to keep it affordable. Any ideas?

Granite tile is the cheapest solution if you don't have easy access to a granite yard or installer who might have scraps. Scraps are usually only good if your area is one of a kind in the room, as most don't have multiple scraps in the same stone to fit your purpose. Sink and stove cutouts are the most common usable scraps, which doesn't help much with long skinny bars. Buying granite tiles will also save you a great deal of time that hunting down scraps would take. For instance Lowes has 12"x12" granite tiles for $3.48 each; however there are a lot of sources for them, so shop around. Good luck!