-- Buy a first home. If you are sitting on enough cash to make a 10 to 20 percent down payment and you don't own a home, this could be your opportunity to buy one at a fantastic price. What you will need is a credit score of 720 or above to lock in the best rates. So while you start nibbling at the real estate section of your local paper, looking for the best school districts in your area (because those areas tend to hold their value) and visiting open houses, make sure that you are paying your bills on time and whittling away at the balances on your existing credit cards. Then, when you do buy, don't bite off more than you can chew. Take into account the cost of living in the place. Try not to allow the price of your home, including mortgage, insurance, taxes, utilities and maintenance (which can cost 1 to 2 percent of the value of the property, annually), to exceed 35 percent of your take-home pay.
-- Network constantly. Even if you have a job and you believe it's relatively secure, this is an environment in which EVERYONE needs to be looking for that next job. That means you should be meeting people you know from prior jobs for coffee; making sure that your presence on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn is professional and represents who you truly are; and updating your resume so it's ready to email at a moment's notice.
Of course, do this without being absent at your current job. In this economy, face time is important, as is spending as much time as possible on projects that help the bottom line by making or saving the company money. And when you do something great, don't shy away from taking credit; instead, in whatever way you can, toot your own horn.
-- Get your kids in on the savings act. There are many things your kids can do to help you stay on the right financial footing -- and at the same time, they can learn to be financially responsible adults. Don't have time to clip and organize coupons? Get your children to do it for you, and offer them a percentage of the savings to pad their own piggy banks. Also, encourage them to take on some of the tasks around the house you might have previously paid other people to do. You don't have to pay a child or a teenager as much as you would pay an adult. Similarly, they can find work outside the house and use that money to help pay for their more adult needs: cell phone, Internet, entertainment, or auto insurance.
-- Give where it helps. The holiday season is over, but that doesn't mean charities no longer need the money. As the economy continues to weaken, human services charities -- those that are tied to food banks, rescue missions, utility assistance -- need more help because their programs are in higher demand, whereas donations tend to be down. To look for a program in your area, use websites like guidestar.org or charitynavigator.org.