[ubuntu] Move files to free up space

Hello,

I have a year-old Dell netbook (mini 9), which has the Dell customized ubuntu OS. With the limited flash memory drive (8GB) combined with massive updates over the past year, the mini is completely out of drive space. There aren't really any personal files on there, with the exception of temporary internet files and whatnot. At this point, there are a couple months of updates outstanding which I can't download for lack of space, but I recognize that this is a security issue.

My question is: which OS files can I move to an SD card in order to make room for new updates, and what is the best way to move them? Keep in mind, I have no CD drive for booting, only SD and flash drive options.

Can I just 'gksu nautilus' and drop the bin and other system files onto the SD card?

Thanks in advance!!

--tb