It hasn't escaped the notice of Savvy Frugality that our most popular posts lately have been about recession, possible depression, investing and financial survival guides. To make things a bit easier for our readers, we're presenting all of the relevant information in this easy-to-use guide which will put all of the links right at your fingertips, including some books for suggested reading. Be sure to bookmark this post, Stumble it, add this site to your RSS reader and email this link to your friends. Also, if you have a blog and link to this post, email the link to savvyfrugality at hotmail.com and I will add your blog to the recommended reading list, or just post a comment in this post with the link.

It is the definitive list of posts from Savvy Frugality about planning and making it through these troubled times. Remember, we're all in this together!

The Savvy Frugality Economic Meltdown Guide

The Savvy Frugality Economic Meltdown Guide, Part Two

The Savvy Frugality Recession Survival Guide

Bad Economic Times on the Way?

Five Moves for Your Retirement Account

Ten Quick Ways to Cut Your Monthly Bills

The Second Great Depression?

Grow Your Own Recession Victory Garden

Ten Lessons From a One Income Family

Where to Find the Cheapest Groceries

Where to Find the Cheapest Gas

Stretching Your Food Budget with Angel Food Ministries

Recommended Reading List

The Great Bust Ahead

The Second Great Depression

Financial Armageddon

Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse

Financial Reckoning Day

America's Financial Apocalypse

Special thanks this week goes out to The Frugal Life News, for linking to the Savvy Frugality article The Savvy Frugality Economic Meltdown Guide.

Also, thanks to the Wall Street Journal supplement Retirement Debate for featuring our article Five Moves for your Retirement Account.

If you have been paying attention to the stock market lately, and it's hard not to, you've probably become a bit concerned about the state of your retirement account. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed under 9,000 today. Ouch! The most recent estimates are that retirement accounts have recently lost some $2 trillion. That trillion...with a "t". That's a lot of money.

So, is it time to bail on the stock market and stash your cash under a mattress? The answer is: it depends. As I have mentioned before, I have been snatching up as much stock as I possibly can lately. Why? Because it's cheap, and it will be a long time before it is this cheap again. Is it a gamble? Sure, but I'm betting that companies like SiriusXM, Walmart and Johnson & Johnson aren't going to go out of business anytime soon.

How do you determine the best place to park your retirement funds while the country is seemingly spiraling toward a depression? Here is my rule of thumb:

1. How soon do you need your money? If you are in your 20's or 30's, forget about selling off your stocks (unless you own AIG). You've got a good 40 years or more before you need to start living off your 401k or stock dividends. If you sell now, you'll just lock in your losses. If you are in your 50's or 60's, things are a little more pressing. You'll still want to own some stocks, but you want good, strong companies in your portfolio. This isn't the time to risk your money on a new company. You'll want more of your money in safer investments like bonds, or park your cash in an FDIC insured savings account. Certificates of Deposit are also FDIC insured, too...and you get better rates than a regular savings account.

2. Are you diversified? If all of your money is tied up in one stock, that's not good. Remember the poor folks who lost all of their money when Enron went belly-up? You'll want to spread your money around amongst large cap companies, small companies, and some foreign investments, as well as some stable-value funds.

3. Automate your investments. Not sure which stocks to buy? Park your retirement money in a fund geared toward your expected year of retirement. Fidelity has their so-called "Freedom Funds". If I were to purchase one for my expected year of retirement, it would be the Freedom Fund 2035, for example. As you get closer to your retirement date, your fund automatically readjusts itself to minimize risk. The farther you are from retirement, the more stocks there are in your fund. As you get closer, it readjusts to include more "safer" investments like bonds.

4. Climb the CD Ladder. As we mentioned earlier, most CDs are FDIC insured. You can purchase a series of CDs so that six months or a year from now, you can start cashing them in each month and either purchasing a new CD, or taking the cash plus interest. The CD's with the largest denominations and the longer time periods pay the most interest, usually 3 to 5 percent. Make sure the CD is FDIC insured.

5. Cash is King. Hoarding a certain amount of cash is still a good idea. You can spend it right away and it doesn't lose value like stocks do. Whether you put it in a safe or stick it in an FDIC insured savings account, you'll have a good cushion to fall back on when you really need it. Most people say have several months worth of living expenses set aside. I say you have to start somewhere. Start with $500 and work your way up to several thousand dollars. Use it for emergencies only.

Sometimes I wished I lived in a major metropolitan city like New York, Chicago or San Francisco. It's not for the pizza, sausage or seafood...and it's not because they all have great skylines. No, each of these cities have pretty good public transportation systems. If I lived in one of these cities, I would not have to own a car.

But, I live in a suburb of Oklahoma City which does not have its own public transportation system. Oklahoma City has a bus system, but it doesn't travel out to my 'burb. Hence, every time I need to run an errand which requires me to go to Oklahoma City, I have to drive.

It is said that most people who own cars travel less than 40 miles a day with them. That's not really a whole lot of driving. My car payments are $340 per month. That means it costs me about 28 cents per mile to drive my car, assuming I drive 40 miles per day, which I don't. I actually drive a lot less than that, so it really costs me more than 28 cents a mile to drive my car, and that's just taking into account the car payment, not the gas, oil, maintenance, etc.

That means that my car is the most expensive thing that I own. Each month, it costs me money just to own it, drive it and maintain it. Sure, I get transportation out of it, but when you get right down to it...it's a money pit. Even if I owned the car free and clear, it would still cost me money to use it. It's enough to make me long for the trains and buses in NYC.

In the past, before adopting a life of Savvy Frugality, when I had an emergency expense, it usually involved my car. It either broke down, needed new tires or just plain died by the side of the road. So, how do we minimize our pain of owning and operating a motor vehicle? I'm glad you asked!

1. How often should you change your oil? Opinions on this vary, but you can never change your oil too often. However, it is possible to not change it often enough. The manufacturer says to change your oil every 3,000 miles. My mechanic says every 7,000. I say a happy medium is every 5,000 miles. Do make sure that you follow the manufacturer's recommendations about what KIND of oil to use.

2. Yes, you do need to check your tire pressure. That advice about maintaining proper tire pressure isn't just a suggestion. You really should make sure your tires are properly inflated. Sure, there's the whole "you get better gas mileage" thing, but if your tires aren't properly inflated, they won't last as long. A new set of tires is more than a couple of hundred dollars. You don't want to change those more often than you need to, now do you?

3. Ditch the additives. Those bottles of additives at the automotive store promise they will clean your engine of oil sludge, remove water from your gas tank, etc. They aren't necessary, and if used improperly will actually cause more problems for your car than they will solve. I damaged the oxygen sensor on my Saturn by adding gasoline additive to the tank. The mechanic never could figure out how to fix it.

4. Streamline your car. Want better gas mileage? Get rid of all the junk in your car. That's added weight that you don't need. Also, if you have a luggage rack on your car and you don't use if for luggage, that adds more drag to your vehicle. I've read about some people who remove their side view mirrors to reduce drag on their car. That's stupid. However, the luggage or bike rack isn't an absolute necessity.

5. Heed the lights. I'm not talking about the traffic lights at the intersection, but the warning lights in your car. Have you been driving the past 2,000 miles with the "check engine" light lit up on your dashboard? That's bad news. Time to take the car to a mechanic.

I designate a percentage of my emergency fund to regular auto maintenance. I suppose you could also just open a savings account specifically for your car maintenance, and deposit $25 to $50 in it every month. When it's time to get something fixed, you have the money for it. The car repair doesn't become a dire emergency.

Happy motoring!

While the U.S. holds its breath to see if the government bailout of the banking industry works, or if the country is headed for a Second Great Depression, you don't have to sit around and wait and see if the economic mess will affect you (or rather, HOW it will affect you). A bad economy eventually trickles down and affects everybody. If you aren't directly affected by the loss of a job or by taking a hit to your stock portfolio (my stocks have been hammered...actually ALL stocks have been hammered...but I'm still buying stocks on the cheap. They will recover...eventually) then someone who buys from you or your business or provides a service to you may be affected. Either way, it's best to be prepared for any worst-case scenario.

By now, you may have taken steps to get out of debt and reduce the amount of your regular monthly spending. For a lot of people, that means starting with something they can easily control, such as their family's food and grocery budget.

Over the past five years, I have had to double the amount of money my family spends on groceries. Food costs have skyrocketed, particularly meats, dairy and produce. Still, there are ways of making your food budget stretch, and there are a few staples that should be in everybody's "emergency pantry":

Stock up on cheap dry goods: I can buy 50 pound sacks of rice and 25 pound sacks of dried beans at some of our local Asian and Hispanic grocery stores, and the price is still cheap. Rice and beans can be used for numerous dishes, and if store properly, will last for months and months.

The Dollar Store is Your Friend: I actually buy a lot of canned grocery items at the Dollar Store. The food is comparable to what I would find at the supermarket. In fact, a lot of Dollar Store items are just overstock items from supermarkets. Recently, I got salad dressing, balsamic vinegar, pasta, spaghetti sauce and roasted red peppers from the Dollar Store. I would have paid much more at the supermarket. Just make sure that you couldn't actually get the items cheaper elsewhere before purchasing them at the Dollar Store. It's possible some items could be less than a dollar somewhere else.

Make meat a side dish: For the most part, the U.S. is a "meat and potatoes" culture. Meat is expensive to produce, and lately, expensive to buy. Purchase and prepare meat sparingly. Use meat as an ingredient to soups, stews, sauces or chili. Use it as part of a casserole. Or, get your protein sources from things like beans or tofu. Meat is a huge part of the grocery budget.

Purchase powdered milk: I always have powdered milk in my pantry. I mainly use it for cooking, not for drinking. However, when I purchase powdered milk, the liquid milk I purchase at the store for cereal or drinking lasts longer, because I'm not dumping it into my cooking or baking recipes.

Make cheap items go further: This is where the soups, stews and casseroles come in handy. There is a link to the Campbell Soup casserole page at SavvyFrugality.com. One site, HillBillyHousewife.com, has an emergency menu which can be used to feed a whole family of 4-6 people for $45 per week.

Ditch the snacks: Most Americans eat too much food in the first place. I was one of them. I recently lost nearly 30 pounds, mainly by ditching snack foods and walking more. Stick to three square meals a day. You'll save money by eating less food, and your waistline will show improvement.

We'll continue our series on Emergency Saving tomorrow, when we discuss saving money on automobile expenses.