<prompt> Human: Celebrating both my longest apartment 13 months and counting in one place, and my first full calendar year of not being homeless since I was 13. I posted about a month ago, and have taken the advice received about building credit and here is my current situation:- 26 year old bartender. - 500 month rent - 100month phone bill - 60 month in subscription services- 100month charity donations - I started tracking my tips and it has helped a lot with monitoring my spending.- I make 1,000 a week in tips on slow weeks and 1,800 a week on good weeks. - 550 credit score with 2 delinquent medical bills I plan on paying off around holiday season when I get extra - applied and received 2 secured credit cards 200 each discover, and capital 1. Thanks for the advice- currently using these cards to pay for my subscription services and phone bill, nothing else. Trying to build credit and then apply for a 3rd card through my bank. As far as bank and liquid assets I have:- 1 checking that I dont let fall under 1,000Currently: 1,400- long term savings transfer 250week goal is to even touch this money and have 12k in a years time currently: 1,500- short term savings transfer 100week and is for vacations and other short term savings Currently: 400Ive never really had more than 3k in my life at any given moment. I know this isnt a lot of money but its more than Im used to. I used to be homeless and it feels weird to me to have this. Basically where Im at is I feel like I could should be doing something with the money that I have but feel like it is too little to invest in anything. So what are some benchmarks I should hit or have so I can tell myself, self, you have X amount saved up- you should start investing with this other money that you have. And where should I look to invest?Im looking at IRAs etc but still feel like I should have MORE in liquid cash saved before I start opening a retirement account. Starting one now feels like putting the cart before the horse.If someone can gently give me some advice as to what normal people do with their money, I would really appreciate it. Im a little lost.  <response>: honestly, if we are going to talk about what is normal in america, its going to be lots of credit cards maxed out, ignorance about 401ksIRAsinvesting, a house that is too big and expensive, vacations, a tiny retirement account, brand new cars, etc etc. i would actually make the claim that you dont want to be anywhere near the norm in america. you are in a great spot right now, especially because of what you had to overcome. there are 26 year olds who didnt have a rough start that are in worse shape then you- so congrats on that. people have great suggestions here- having an emergency fund of 6 months expenses and paying off debt should be 1. debt probably should come first, then build up the EF. after that you can start to have options- thats truly what money buys- options. do you want to own a house someday? travel somewhere? open a business? go to college? retire at some point? all of those things will be options for you to save towards after you are debt free and safe with an EF. 