Spend your tax refund. Because, really, you earned it.

The modern-day equivalent of shoving money under your mattress is your checking account. Any way you can get to it with your ATM card. Easy access. And there you're guaranteed to get returns that might not even keep up with inflation.

Don't bother checking your credit report. Your lender will do that for you. Yeah, there might be a couple of problems and you might end up paying a higher interest rate on that mortgage. And don't get pre-approved or pre-qualified. All that does is alert you to possible problems in your credit report, and you don't need to worry about that while you're shopping for a home.

We all do this, but for 2006, really solidify it. Don't tell me those are out of your price range! They are worth it.

We are going to tax and tax, spend and spend, elect and elect.

Tax time is a great time to take any refund you receive and invest in your future either by opening up an IRA account, or increasing the deferrals in your 401(k) plan. What's very encouraging today compared to a few years ago is that American workers are increasingly demonstrating a discipline for saving and investing their hard earned dollars, and are less likely than in the past to say they will run out and turn it in for a plasma TV for example.