Tomato Cages

My beefsteak tomatoes are getting bigger and taller everyday. It won't be much longer until they are going to need extra support. I'm not quite sure what I am going to do about that...

I know the obvious solution is a tomato cage. Here is the main obstacle in that plan; I don't want to spend the money on it. I bought a cage for my patio tomato for 0.99 at Wilco in Battle Ground. The cages for the larger tomato varieties were a few dollars more.

Being too cheap to spend a few dollars, I am looking for an alternative. I planted my tomatoes near a post on the corner of my porch. I was hoping that I would be able to use some twine to tie the plants to the post. Now that it's come time to take action, I'm not too sure it's going to work out.

My mom suggested that I use some trimmed branches from a tree in my yard to create a teepee type support. Sounds like a great idea, but I don't think that I have limbs the correct size. My instincts tell me that there has to be another way!