By Emilie Voss
News Channel 3

We are a week into 2009, and already it's been a roller coaster ride with the economy.

We have little or no control over what's happening in Washington and on Wall Street. We do, however, have control over our own wallet.

Financial guru Suze Orman spent an hour on Oprah Thursday afternoon showing us how to best manage our money in the new year.

"If you have credit card debt, your number one goal is to get out of credit card debt before we have a savings, before you do anything. Your credit card debt in today's economy, according to this action plan, has got to go," Orman said.

Local financial planners agree. Tom O'Brien is a local CPA. He believes you should limit your consumer debt payments, including your car loans, to less than 15% of after tax net take home pay.

He says a lot of people are way over that, and they get into trouble because they can't simply pay their bills every month.

Orman recommends paying the minimum on every credit bill you have, every month. Then, pay extra on the card with the highest interest rate until one-by-one you pay off every card.

If your debt is under control and your looking to start saving in the new year, there are several options where you can still make a good return.

"There's some great opportunities out there where you can still save money and invest it but make a decent return on your money being in high quality bonds, being in tax free bonds, being in good quality dividend paying stocks," Cathy Brown, a financial advisor at CB Wealth in Palm Desert said. "There's things out there paying 7, 8, 10 percent which is a whole lot better than you can find in cash."

Brown says one of the worst long-term investments you can make is leaving your money in cash.

"Basically you're not goin to get anywhere when you're trying to accomplish your goals by just having it in cash or Treasuries," Brown said.

We want to hear how your managing your money in the new year. If you'd like to share your financial plan for 2009, please email me directly at evoss@kesq.com.

Also, Suze Orman's new book is now available to download online for the next week. To find out more on this financial action plan for 2009, go to http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20081119_tows_bookdownload.