Guest Post: Power of Snowflaking

May 27, 2008 · Filed Under · 3 Comments 

repoman.jpgProud to offer another excellent guest post on frugal living! The following is a post by Ryan from Uncommon Cents.  … (RSS) Enjoy! Thanks Ryan!

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The Underrated Power of Small Amounts and Snowflaking

A recent comment on my blog in response to my post on maximizing the reward on a Discover Open Road Card stated:

“Seems like a lot of work for $60 per year. Don’t you value your time more than that?”

I replied with a question and a smiley:

“How much work is it to use the proper card at the proper time?”

However, what the comment brought to light for me is just how underrated the power of small amounts of money are. $60 is not a huge amount of money, but there are many ways to equate $60 with real world situations:

$60 is more than three hours of work for the average social worker with a Master’s degree in Hawai’i, and probably closer to four hours of work for the average social worker nationwide;

$60 is more than a tank of gas still for my truck, even in these difficult times;

$60 is enough for me to go out with a friend to an overpriced movie with dinner afterwards too!

$60 may seem more important if it’s the last $60 of a credit card debt that’s been going on for years, or the dollars that turn $999,940 into a million.

Beyond that, $60 a year on this one credit card is just one of many areas in my life where I might get similar amounts. $15 every month or so on recycling cans isn’t a large amount either nor is the $15 rebate on items in the Sunday paper. But added up, these are the kinds of dollars that can end up making a tremendous difference in my personal finance life. As has been shown time and again in the personal finance blogosphere, snowflaking–the art of taking these small amounts of money and combining them to pay off debt or save for goals–is a powerful way of accumulating cash that many seem to overlook.

So, in the end, no, I guess that my time isn’t worth more than that–not when I look at $60 in so many different ways and realize that the amount isn’t huge, but it can be the start of something gigantic. Don’t overlook the power of small amounts of money and the tremendous potential of snowflaking!

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Comments

3 Responses to “Guest Post: Power of Snowflaking”

  1. Carrie @ Moneysavingmethods.com on May 28th, 2008 5:50 am

    I couldn’t agree more….these little amounts can make all the difference in the long run.

    And, seriously, how long does it take to pull a Discover out of your wallet? And, don’ forget, you also make extra money because YOUR money can stay in the bank earning interest another month, too ( since you pay credit cards a month in arrears ).

    My whole site is about me tracking my snowflakes…and if people don’t believe how much it can save up, look at it this way…for very little of my time invested, I am up $6,778 ( and this is only what I have actually received in hand ) in May. That means my little snowflakes are adding up to more than $1,000 a month.

    And, I have over $2,000 I have already earned through my snowflakes…and I am technically just waiting for the $ to show up in my mailbox in forms of gift cards, checks, Paypal paments, etc. I haven’t even added that to my total.

    If someone can’t see the advantage of the little things, then they are definitely missing the big picture!! And, with the economy the way it is right now, that is sad indeed.

  2. Carrie @ Moneysavingmethods.com on May 28th, 2008 5:55 am

    OK..one other comment. As soon as I left your site, the lead article on Yahoo today is this. http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/105017/Spend-%2410-Today-Be-Out-%24100K-Tomorrow

  3. Kansas Mom on May 28th, 2008 7:52 am

    Funny you should post this today. I was making a transfer from checking to savings last night and included $0.10 I’d received from a bank. Yes, that’s 10 cents! I thought it was a little ridiculous, but couldn’t come up with a valid reason not to transfer it, as long as the transfer was free (and especially since I was making one anyway).

    I also have a student loan I was paying $60 a month on that will be paid off next month. (Yay!) That $60 a month will go into savings now every month. I’m already living without it and won’t notice it at all, but my savings account will love it.

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