I had a problem with an excel file which had become very slow to save and
close which I posted previously on this site. See:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/comm...d-23df00dd4956

After reading some responses to my question and other posts in the group I
decided to recreate the workbook. I changed all the equal signs to "p=" so
all the formulas would be text, then I moved them to a new file and changed
the "p=" back to "=" so I had formulas again. I then copied all the macros
and any misc. formatting. This has done a lot to solve the problem (though
I'm not sure yet exactly how much) but also had the added benefit of reducing
the file size from about 2.4 megs to 1.7 megs (about 30% reduction). This is
the size the file was about 4 months ago. It had grown slowly so I thought
it was from changes I had made. The file is a cost estimating spreadsheet
which I use as a master file. I update this master file as needed and I also
save it out to different job names frequently, but I don't add large amounts
of new data that would cause file size increases.

My question is: Does anyone know what could cause such buildup in file size
and how to avoid it in the future?