I do the same, with one extra step. I have a "sandbox" directory, and another directory inside it called (for lack of a better name, and for legacy reasons :) "goodstuff".

When I have used a snippet more than 3 times I take the time to make it into a bullet-proof, well documented, subroutine and move it to "goodstuff". Eventually I would like to start grouping them into ones I use together often and package them into modules, but I only have so much time :).

The other directory in my sandbox is called "test". It contains a very generic network client that attaches to any port or protocol, a few text files with strings that have broken my parsing in the past, and other little dev tools I use to avoid "Making The Same Mistake Twice", or just as little test programs while developing larger things. I find this dir invaluable, having a network client, text files to test parsing, and those types of thing always around so I don't have to rewrite them every time I start writing a server or daemon or even little log parsers, is just a huge time saver.

Oh and ++ on this node, it might be a given for many, but for any newbies this node will be gold :)

"Nothing is sure but death and taxes" I say combine the two and its death to all taxes!