<prompt> Human: Hi everyone. Just to give you the lowdown, I have about 21,000 in student loan debt, no degree, no bills as I live at home and my parents generally enjoy my company and Ive offered to help pay for things I use but they always tell me no. Right now I work two jobs with a monthly income of about 1,500. My two credit cards I have completely paid off and I have 1,000 in an emergency fund. My question is do I pay off my student loans completely over the next year and a half by putting most of my paycheck towards it, or do I put my money elsewhere and let it grow? If elsewhere, where do I put it? I would like to move out eventually but I would feel guilty as my dad is out of town three weeks out of the month and I feel my mom might get lonely.  <response>: If you plan on staying at home for a while pay down the loans quickly. If you plan on moving out soon then pay the minimum and build up larger cash reserves. As long as you live at home you have few responsibilities and a good safety net so there is no need for a large emergency fund. But you need one saved up before striking out on your own. Once you have monthly bills like rent you need money set aside so you could survive a few months if you lost your job, plus moving and setting up a houseapartment has a lot of 1 time costs. I would figure out when you think you are likely to move out and about 6-12 months before hand start stock piling cash. But until then pay down the loans as much as possible. 