I am too stretched out on my bike, and have no money to buy a new stem, or anything else.
My seat is as far forward as it goes, and I am still sitting a little too far back (feet in front of knees)
Can I turn my seat-post around to gain an extra 1"1/2? Or is that structurally a bad idea?
Probably depends on the seatpost. Some lightweight, carbon ones probably can’t take it. A stock aluminum or steel post should do just fine.
Yup. It’s alu. Thanks 
Ill give it a try then.
Depending on the clamp of the seatpost your seat will be pointing upwards.
Try it but you might end up with your seat pointed at an odd angle.
Go on ebay and look for a neutral set back seat post. I sold a Bontranger not long ago for twenty bucks.
Shoot. You’re right. It’s got a little upward tilt, but it’s managable.
Is there another way I can go about this? What is the shortest stem size? 7mm?
Any recommendations on what is cheapest and best fit-wise? : new stem or neutral seat post?
7mm is about the shortest standard stem size. You might find the bike handling a little twitchier if you go to a short stem. If you go too long than it’s the opposite and feels sluggish.
How much do you need? A neutral seat post will give you a couple of cm or so.
Any recommendations on what is cheapest and best fit-wise? : new stem or neutral seat post?
That’s pretty much impossible to say without seeing your current position.
Unfortunately, ideally I need about 5 cm. I have a 10mm stem on a 49cm Bianchi Eros frame. I am 5’3".
With a combination of 7mm and neutral seat post I could get that then?
btw: Is there such a thing as a ‘shorter’ handlebar? I have trouble reaching the brakes/shifters in the drop position, which is why i want to shorten everything.
Unfortunately I dont have a picture.
With the seat-post turned around, the leg position looks ok and feels ok, but I am too stretched out in the front, and have trouble reaching the brakes and shifters, ie, in the drops I have to touch chest to knees to brake.
Sounds like you need to do is take your bike to a decent LBS and get a proper fitting.
There are small size drop bars available. My wife has a similiar problem. Here’s a previous thread about this
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=217644;search_string=search_string;#217644
Unfortunately, I am in Slovenia, with no semi-decent LBS that I know of.
Thank you for the other thread link! I might look into the Salsa bars.
One more question: How do you measure handlebar size? side-to-side or center-to-center of the radius?
Measure them from center to center.
36cm. So there’s nothing I can do there. Will look for the stem and seat post.
Thank you all! You guys are great.
Ziva