free, I don't know what I'm looking at in your code.
Does dpkg -l | grep mail | grep -v lib | awk '{print $2}' | xargs apt-get -y remove
result in the following lines, removing files related to email?

I would love for this thread to turn into a bunch of safe app-removal tips,
along with some idea as to how much space each one buys you.

@GeneralA, removing the .desktop doesn't get you any space, does it?

I tried someone's suggestion of installing and uninstalling Rhapsody.
Before I started, DiskUsage reported 86232 KB available in /.
I believe that to be the root of the drive where apps live, yes?

I installed Rhapsody and uninstalled it without running it.
DiskUsage reported 83916 KB available.
I rebooted.
DiskUsage reported 86100 KB available.
I installed Gizmo and uninstalled it without running it.
DiskUsage reported 84004 KB available.
Reboot.
DiskUsage reported 84108 KB available.
The useless icons are gone, but it looks to me like I actually lost 2 megs out of 256.

Please let me know if I'm looking at the wrong numbers.