Actual instructions are big for an internet comment, and dependant on your specific situation and needs. I'll recommend some reading.

If you don't want to spend a lot of time.
Go straight to The Index Card
Bonus points if you read Pound Foolish first. They aren't long. They explain what to do, and what not to, respectively. They were kind of written as a pair.

If you're willing to take a longer journey.
Start with The Richest Man in Babylon, explaining why investing is a good.
Then read A Random Walk Down Wall street, describing all the ways you could invest, but probably shouldn't.
Then move onto the other two I mentioned first.

If you read all of them you'll know more about finance and investing than 90% of people.

These books are all quite US centric, but the basic principals are the same everywhere. Though some of the tax advice you'd want to check into locally.