Well you can minimise Chip RAM usage by going into Workbench/Prefs and then clicking on Workbench prefs program.
At the cycle gadget, select Images In: Other Memory
However as has been said here, there is no substitution for having a graphics card such as the Voodoo and Mediator system. I have constantly 1.868 MB Chip RAM remaining with the Mediator. Also bear in mind that Chip Memory is very very slow so it pays to use a graphics card with only FAST RAM being used.