<prompt> Human: It seems like having an 6 month emergency fund is a MUST and a PRIORITY and I really really want to start building one as it will provide a sense of financial relief. Well, my problem is that my forbearance period is coming to an end and my first payment is due next month.Is it more important to: A Build an emergency fund 700 a month and not start paying student loans despite them being due until 6 month cushion is saved?6 Months of Emergency Fund Savings: 700 x 6 4,200.00B Prioritize paying off student loans 346.35 initial monthly payments and use leftover amount 354.00 for emergency fund?6 Months of Emergency Fund Savings - Student Loans 2,478.00Basically, is it worth taking a loss early to prevent an unpredictable emergency in the future?Interest Rate: 5.5Total Loan Balance: 61,000Standard Repayment: 346.35Monthly Net after expenses: 700.00And if the advice is to concentrate on saving for emergency fund, how much of a negative impact will not paying student loans have on my financial future?Thank you and Happy Holidays!Assistant: Im confused - why would you not pay your student loan payments when they are due? Youre going to cause a lot of problems if you miss payments.The real question is where your leftover money should be going - toward savings or debts? Generally, you want to build up a good chunk of savings at least one month of expenses, preferably 3 before you start dumping excess money into loan repayment. Ideally, wed all have 6 months of emergency savings, but thats not always possible when you have a mountain of student debt.Human: ...before you start dumping excess money into loan repayment.Makes sense. I didnt know if having an emergency fund exactly 3-6 months saved was first priority before all other debts. What it sounds like is 1. pay student loans minimum first and 2. whatever money is left over use that to 3. start saving for 3-6 month emergency fund even if it is small amounts. Once the emergency fund is setup, then I can start to put more money into repayments. Is that right?  <response>: Step 1 is to always meet your minimum monthly obligations, including debt payments, utility bills, and rentmortgage. When you start to miss payments, late fees and credit damage start happening. With student loans, you want to keep your payment history clean as a whistle since it often leads to perks such as reduced interest rates.Step 2 is to have some sort of savings, but the amount is heavily debated. Dave Ramseys method says to have 1000 in savings and then aggressively tackle down debt. I personally do not think this is a good strategy for those with huge amounts of student debt because 1000 does not go very far if you lose your job or have another financial emergency. 60k is going to take years to pay off, and I do not think 1000 is a safe oh shit fund to last you 3-5 years.With that much in loans, Id recommend putting all of your extra money into savings until you build up an amount you are comfortable with. Do you have a good family support network where you could borrow a few grand if needed? Then maybe you dont need a huge savings account. Is your car going to kick the bucket in the next couple of years? Then set aside some extra money now.I took a slightly different path and first established 1000 in savings, then I divided my extra money each month to go towards both savings and debts. That way, I saw a steady increase in my savings account from month to month and also had the peace of mind I was paying more than the minimum.Check out the website unbury.me to see how your debts will look over time with various payments. 