<prompt> Human: I am trying to build up an emergency fund as a teacher, and by May I typically have close to 6 months saved if I were to barely scrape by. Then, over the summer I have limited income even with extra assignments to suppliment my income, and my EF gets depleted this is also because I try to maintain a high student loan payment over the summer. After money set aside for savings 600 and monthly expenses 1,500, I put the rest of my disposible income towards my student loans which ends up being 1,600mo on averageShould I try to cut back on my student loan payments to build up an EF that will outlast the summer? I have the capacity to do so, but I want to pay the loans off ASAP. Or is it expected that the drop in income is what the EF is for, and that its okay to build it up over the school year, each year? Thank you!Edit: Thank you for the advice. As much as Id hoped I would be able to pay off my student debt quickly, you all are right, I need to have a savings built up first.  <response>: Your student loan payments are not an emergency. I think you put extra payments on hold if you have no income. 