Scott Adams, in the form of his alter-ego Dilbert, has laid out the 9 steps to financial security. Here they are:

1. Make a will
2. Pay off your credit cards
3. Get term life insurance if you have a family to support
4. Fund your 401k to the maximum
5. Fund your IRA to the maximum
6. Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it
7. Put six months worth of expenses in a money-market account
8. Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund through any discount broker and never touch it until retirement
9. If any of this confuses you, or you have something special going on (retirement, college planning, tax issues), hire a fee-based financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio

Here's a way to save a quick $10.

Ben Stein has written an article on Yahoo!Finance about what to do in a bust:

Buy more.

Yes, simplistic, but oh-so-true. It's hard to get the gumption to buy when prices are falling, but if you can afford it (read: how can you not afford it?), buy when prices are falling.

This is the reasoning: If at $100 you thought the stock, for example, was fairly valued (you bought it, right?), then at $50 it's a bargain. So, buy more.

The housing industry is the same. Ben offers this sage commentary about people and their penchant for counting on the recent real estate phenomenon of ever-increasing prices:

...it's a reminder that you shouldn't count on your home to make you rich. Homes are for living in. They shouldn't be your main investment unless you're a builder.