Assuming you are one of the lucky people that gets to receive cash this Christmas as a bonus or present, why not stash it away and do something with it?

Yes, we know you might just want to blow it all in the sales come January (or perhaps even before then!) but you won't get rich that way.

And let's face it, with the way the economy going at the moment, it makes sense to look after every penny.

With that in mind, why not use your bonus to boost your savings, review your finances and make your future more secure?

Before you save though, you need to clear any debts first; having a clean slate, helps you examine your savings and think about the best option, some of which are:

A rainy day fund

• No matter how old you are, you should have enough to cover life's unexpected emergencies and those rainy days; ideally this should be enough to cover your outgoings for six months.

• Keep your emergency fund in an easy access account, such as an instant access savings account. There are plenty paying more than 6% at present:

• If you invest £1,000 with Alliance & Leicester, you can get 6.5% AER on its instant access/direct account.

• Newcastle Building Society, pays you 6.43% on its savings account, while Birmingham Midshires and ICICI Bank both pay 6.41%.

• Before signing up for a tempting rate, you need to look at the terms and conditions carefully to make sure the account is right for you. Often ,there can be restrictions on withdrawals. For example, with some you face losing the interest for any month a withdrawal is made.

• Everyone over 18 is allowed to invest £7,000 tax free a year in an individual savings account (ISA) and over 16s can invest £3,000 in a cash ISA. Any interest you accrue is tax free -so make the most of such accounts.

• You can invest up to £3,000 in mini cash ISA and up to £4,000 in a mini stocks and shares ISA or £7,000 in a maxi stocks and shares ISA. Cash ISAs are good for your rainy day fund, while equity ISAs are more for medium-term savings over 5 to 10 years.

• If you are blessed with still being relatively young- lucky you! You have longer to save and you could take a bigger risk and opt for equities, which over time tend to perform better than cash.

• There are many different types of investment such as trackers funds, investment trusts, unit trusts, corporate bonds and individual shares.

• You can also put these types of funds into an ISA wrapper within the maximum at £7,000 a year, and reap the tax-free benefits. Lovely!

• Financial advisers can help you choose the right fund. You can open a fund with £500 or £1,000 and start paying in as little as £35 or £50 a month. But you must read the info before you invest and sign up and beware the management fees which can seriously dent your profits.

• If you are a little bit older, then it probably makes sense to use your Christmas cash to top up your pension.

• The big advantage with personal pensions is that they attract tax relief at your standard rate of tax. This actually means that the government tops up your fund! (for example if you pay in £78, the government tops this up to £100).

• You can also take 25% of the value of the fund tax-free at retirement, but you must use the rest to buy an annuity.

• This year, the boys that work in the City will take home bonuses totaling £7.4 billion; nice work if you can get it eh?

• If you are one of the lucky ones, the investment world is your oyster. You can choose from buy-to-let property, overseas property investments, hedge funds and derivatives; or art, diamonds or gold...anything really.

• But remember the rules; when it comes to speculation, only invest what you can afford to lose.

• With a financial background, you're probably a shrewd investor anyway but you can't go wrong by getting rid of personal debt, such as credit cards and personal loans, and paying off the mortgage up to the maximum allowed without incurring redemption penalties. This can save you thousands of pounds and enable you to pay off your mortgage years earlier.

Or, if your bonus is really pitiful, why not just spend it down your local!