What does it mean to 'nickel and dime yourself'?

To "nickel and dime yourself" basically means to be obsessed over the small details that would not matter in the overall scheme of things. A good example would be when someone will drive an extra 25 miles to get cheaper gasoline when the price is only 4 cents higher where they are now. If you get 25 miles to the gallon (approximately) it will cost you an extra gallon of gas to get the cheaper price. If gas is $2.50 per gallon, then you spent an extra 2.50 to get to the cheaper pump, when 4 cents extra a gallon is only a difference of 40 cents per ten gallons. This is not very efficient, and hardly worth someone's time. This is known as "nickel and diming yourself."