I am often having to access the hidden files on my mac (one of the FEW things that I miss about windows) but it can clutter your finder when you are in a normal workflow. So I found these instructions that will allow you to put a toggle for hidden files on your context (right-click) menu anywhere in finder. A bonus is that this uses Automator so you can begin to get a feel for what it can do.

http://macs.about.com/od/diyguidesprojects/qt/Create-A-Menu-Item-To-Hide-And-Show-Hidden-Files-In-Os-X.htm