Before going in to see my Dr. I download my meter readings and print out data for him to look over. One of the stats is the overall average. I then convert the average to A1C. It has always matched almost exactly. Interestingly the average of the last 30 days has proven to be the best predictor, despite A1C supposedly being an average of the last 3 months. I think if you test often enough the "noise" averages out. I find the positive reinforcement of good tests are a powerful motivator to keep on my diet and not cheat.
Strips are expensive, and my insurance doesn't pay for them. I use Wavesense meters which have reasonable prices on strips and order them over the internet. My last strips cost 28 cents, which helps.
I tested quite a bit early on so I could fine tune my diet. Since my diet is now pretty much set and my D is stable, my average number of tests/day has fallen from nearly 8 to less than 4.