Does it really matter in the long run if :

• you redeemed $4 worth of coupons this week at the grocery store?
• you participate in a carpool for the kids’ soccer matches?
• you bought a “new” pair of jeans at the second-hand store?

After all, you’re only saving pennies or dollars every week with those techniques.

Well, here’s some food for thought. Trent at The Simple Dollar uses frugal living examples from his family to explain The Snowball Effect: How Little Moves Now Can Create Huge Effects Later.

A snippet:

I often write about how a person can save a few dollars here and a few dollars there by making a few little changes in their life. For some of my readers, this seems pointless, and they’re quite happy to tell me so. “Why bother saving $3?” they’ll ask.

Over the last month or two, I’ve really begun to understand the reasons for frugality: those little choices snowball into something big over time. Let me show you exactly how it works.

If Trent’s examples don’t work for your lifestyle (my kid is in college, not in diapers), well, then research whatever frugal lifestyle tactics are applicable and available to your circumstances and start implementing them one by one.