<prompt> Human: Hello, I am a rather foolish spendthrift. I dont struggle for money but I certainly dont put any away. I am realizing this now at 23 which is awful because I have worked full time for the past five years at various jobs and could have saved so much. However, I want to start saving in earnest, I bring lunch to work now, I attend a CC to save money and am trying to stop frivolous purchases. I want to start my savings by assembling an emergency fund, but my question is, where do I put this money for the best return? I have a saving account...that has the minimum required to be open, and my checking account.  <response>: First, give up the idea that you will be earning anything on your emergency fund. It is really insurance that you keep in available cash in case you have an emergency. You need it in some form like a bank account that is readily available, so you will get only token interest on it. If thats 1 or 2 hardly matters, so it isnt worth the effort to optimize so much. Instead, get the emergency fund together, then start trying to optimize long term savings - thats where the effort really pays off. 