Sane dependency management isn't free! I have some tips, though:
# find how all node_modules on *nix under the cwd (gsort is for mac with homebrew coreutils; use `sort` otherwise)
find . -name "node_modules" -type d -prune -exec du -sh '{}' + | gsort -hr
# exclude node_modules from time machine backups
mdfind 'kMDItemFSName == node_modules' -0 | xargs -0 tmutil addexclusion
