<prompt> Human: I am 18 currently, and live with my parents, going to University, and working part time making 925 a month. I know a decent amount about finances, such as what to fund first, and how to budget money and whatnot, and I know that I should make sure to have an emergency fund before investing. The only problem is, I am not sure as to how much I need to have in it, as I have almost no real expenses aside from gas so I am not sure how much I need before putting my money in other investments, and saving for retirement and whatnot. I want to know if I can project a future monthly expenditure amount for a couple of years from now that I can shoot for, and also is it a good idea to just focus on an emergency fund first if I am pretty much not going to need it until im out on my own? or can I fund it partially with 50 of my savings, and put the other 50 towards investments and whatnot?  <response>: The idea is to have liquid savings, like a bank account, for 3 to 6 months worth of expenses. This covers you for issues like unexpected car repair, and possible job loss while you hunt for new work. In your case, since you are still in school your expenses are not the same as they will be when you support yourself working, so you can ease into it. In general you probably want to focus mostly on doing well in University and being sure to graduate, so this is mush less important until after you graduate. 