I myself feel that affirmations are a great way to help with manifestations, I use them while meditating. When you affirm something with your thoughts, it becomes a belief, in taoism they believe if you say an affirmation 6 times or more it penetrates the subconscious mind and it becomes a part of you, (your belif)  I remember one time I wanted to put the law of attraction to the test. During one of my meditation sessions, I used an affirmation saying, "I won lotto" over and over and over again for maybe a week. So that weekend I went food shopping and I saw a lotto machine with scratch off tickets. I said, "hmmmm let's see." I decided to put $30.00 in the machine which would give me 6 tickets at $5.00 each, and when I put the $10.00 bill in...it would'nt take! All I had left was another $20.00! I felt like maybe the universe is giving me a hint here..lol. So I put in another $20.00 which now gave me 8 tickets! I went home, ate dinner and I remembered..OHH THE TICKETS! I got my lucky penny out and scratched away...Now, DID I WIN? YES! I DID! Did I win the jackpot? No, I did not... BUT, I did win a total of$65.00! Out of 8 tickets 6 were winners! Did I say "Oh! my affirmations don't work!" Heck NO! Originally I was only geting 6 tickets, the divine set it up for me to get 8... You See? I put in a total of $40.00 and walked away with $25.00! I was greatful for that $25.00. All I did was walk up to a machine! I called it into existence. If I only put $30.00 in I would of won less maybe. Affirmations do work! However if I was more clear and said "I won the lotto jackpot" maybe the results would have been different...LOL. But hey, If the universe gives you what you want on a smaller scale than what you wished for, be greatful for it because it could be a little something of something bigger coming your way. (Gratitude is key) So affirmations Work, atleast in my experience. I've been using them for a while now and I must say, I am becoming the person I want to be and starting to live the life I wanted. Thank you Universe! ;-)