If you thought things were getting tight last month, get ready for the big squeeze.

While I would love to start 2009 with some rosy predictions, one theme sticks in my mind: Cash will never be more important. You need to find it, save it and use it as your cushion in what will be another rocky year.

Let's dispatch the ugliest kinds of cash-raising first. The seemingly easy money that almost anyone has access to is often outrageously expensive.