Does that new job mean a bigger paycheck? Take advantage of it.

A good reason for finding a new job is to boost your compensation. Once you get a raise, chances are that you’ll give into the temptation to increase your spending by the same amount.

Don’t let that money slip through your fingers, put your raise to better uses; with smart financial planning. Consider wisely investing your new income in the stock market or, mutual funds. Think about paying off credit cards and eliminating debt. Leveraged properly, the “extra” cash can make a real difference in your financial life.

Consider taking these three key steps:

Step 1. Invest in your high-interest debt. If you have looming credit card bills, pay them off. This is the biggest bang for your buck. Paying off a card with an 18 percent annual interest rate, will earn you an immediate, tax-free return of 18 percent on your money. You can’t get that anywhere else.

Step 2. Make automatic deposits. Force yourself to save by putting your saving on autopilot. Arrange to have money automatically withdrawn from your bank account and deposited into an investment account each month. This service is nearly always free. It’s painless—the money is out of your bank account before you even have a chance to spend it, or miss it. You’ll not only get used to saving money, you may even forget that it’s happening.

Step 3. Invest sensibly. Wall Street would love us to think that the only way to be a successful investor is to pick the latest hot stock or mutual fund. In fact, chasing performance and frequent trading are two good ways to shoot yourself in the foot. Instead, choose diverse, low-cost investments (index funds are hard to beat for this), and reinvest your returns to capture the benefit of compounding and hold on for the long term.

Don’t underestimate the impact of saving and investing even a small amount of money on a regular basis. Consider this: If you invest $250 every month, earn a 10 percent average annual return (about the historical average for the S&P 500), and keep it up for 20 years, you’ll end up with $191,000. Not bad for pocket change!