<prompt> Human: Hi, Im just trying to start up an emergency fund with a very minimal up-front deposit. I have about two months before I have to start paying off my student loans, and in that time I could probably save up about 300 to start out with, while still keeping a bit of a buffer for my loan payments. Ive been looking at Allys no penalty CD. Its an 11 month with a .93 interest rate thats obviously still very fluid. Im just a bit confused about all this talk of laddering and penalties and whatnot, Im interested to hear your advice. Is this specific CD a good idea? And when I want to increase my principal balance, should I pull out my original 300 and start a new 11 month no penalty CD or just keep making more of them? The more I research, the more confused I get. Appreciate any help!  <response>: Since youre just starting out, I suggest keep it simple stupid. How much do you realistically think youll be putting into this emergency fund account over the next year? IMO youre fine just opening a savings account at your current bank, getting yourself adjusted to the monthly student loan payments, and then reevaluating your situation in a year. The gainloss with fancy accounts and fractions of a percent interest rates wont mean much over one year unless youre planning to put a huge amount of money aside. 