With the stock market finally showing us some love after a brutal 8-9 months of wild rollercoaster rides, it’s easy to slip into old habits and trick yourself into thinking the good old days are around the corner. As President Obama said today, there are glimmers of hope that the economy may be turning a corner. Add to the mix a general consensus form many leading economists that the recession may end in September and you have a positive outlook for the future.

If you’ve been saving money, maybe for the first time in a while, but you sense the stock market is headed back up so you’ll take it easy and put your newly found saving habit on hold, please reconsider. If you have been flexing your frugal muscle and now with some good news from the market you’re feeling that familiar pull to spend, stop, think about what you’re spending the money on, is it a need or a want, can you live without it for now, and then go back to saving more.

We are by no means out of the woods yet with this global economic crisis. Now is the time to save and be frugal. That doesn’t mean you stop spending money, simply that you spend money wisely. Be mindful of how powerful it feels to have 6 months of living expenses in a liquid, safe account. You’d be surprised how liberating that actually does feel. And if it’s been challenging saving up this amount of cash, see if you can reduce your spending enough to speed up this accomplishment