[SDGT]

I make clear ice cubes two ways.

1. Boil water twice beforehand

2. Strap a vibrating "toy" to the tray and put it on a solid flat surface in the freezer.

Neither of these solutions ended up costing me more than $20 to make as many ice cubes as I can fit. The hardest part is finding ice cube trays that don't suck.

[logfromblammo]

You can even use a silicone molded ice tray to make crystal clear ice in interesting shapes. I recall seeing Death Star shaped ice somewhere out there on the Internet.