The other piece of financial advice I would mention is if you think your situation is going to be stable for the next year, the next couple of months are going to be the time to make your big ticket purchases. Car, house, appliance, etc With as many people as just got put out of work, the inventory accumulation is going to be hard and fast. They will be able to adjust for months down the road, but not for now. On top of that, interest rates will probably never be lower than now.