I'm now to the point that I'm able to keep about $600 per month out of my money. I've been just putting it into my savings account at the credit union. There has got to be something better to do with this money. Any ideas? Thoughts?

1. Establish an emergency fund. 6 months of living expenses is good.
2. Pay off any debt, starting with the highest interest rate debt.
3. Start saving for retirement
4. Start saving for a downpayment on a home.
5. Start saving for your next vehicle, if applicable.

Have you completed any of those? That would help us tell you what to do next.

That's a great list, by the way. If you need more ideas of where to put your money, check out this CNN article.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/mon ... index.html

The only debt I have is for a small, $5200 loan. My payments are $177 per month and I pay $350 per month. I know this is gonna freak most of ya out but, I didn't have anything saved up until now. I've always just spent anything extra. I know, at 38, I should have been saving all along. I was just thinking, I know what to save for just not sure where to put the money...... A lady I work with say's buy CD's, another say's buy stocks with it another say's put the money in gold (LOL). Thanks for the suggestions thus far.

I know this is gonna freak most of ya out but, I didn't have anything saved up until now.

Doesn't freak me out. I'm in the same boat. I've only recently begun saving, both for retirement and for my emergency fund. I always used to spend whatever I had, too.

As for your question: Gold doesn't appeal to me as an investment right now. There's too much of the bandwagon in it. I don't know much about precious metals, but the whole thing feels like a bubble to me at the moment. CDs won't pay a huge return, but they're safe. It might be a good idea to put a couple thousand dollars there as your emergency savings. Then, take future savings and invest them for retirement in the stock market.

Gold, like other commodities are fool's investments. Don't bother.

If you have an emergency fund, and feel sufficiently mobile in cash that you're not worried about unexpected expenses, but some index funds and forget about them. If you dont have an emergency fund, might I recommend a highyield savings account that pays just as good as a cd (about 5%)

I would suggest putting $400 per month into a high interest savings account and $200 per month into a retirement vehicle (401(K), Roth IRA, whatever) until you have 3-6 months expenses in the savings account. Then I'd switch it around so $200 went into savings and $400 into investments.

This assumes that you aren't already at the limits for saving for retirement.

If you were in the UK, I'd suggest putting the savings money into a cash ISA and the investment money into a stocks and shares ISA as they're more flexible and/or give better returns.