<prompt> Human: Hey Reddit!So heres the deal. Im a college graduate in Upstate New York with a decent income I make 13hr at my full time job, around 80-120 a weekend waiting tables, and pick up various other freelance work as well. 10 of my FT check bi-weekly goes into a savings account linked to my checking through my current bank, and as it stands I have about 1500 saved up after working this job for close to six months. I mostly keep it as a buffer, like an emergency fund, just in case something happens that is a wallop to my wallet car trouble, surprise bill, et cetera.To get to the point, Im thinking of taking 1000 of that and putting it into some kind of savings where I cant touch it, and letting it accure interest, but Id like to know how to go about doing this while seeing the best results. Any thoughts?TL;DR version: I have 1000 that I want to not touch and make it earn interest. What do?Assistant: Have you maxed out your IRA this year? Is all your debt payed off?Do those 2 things first before anything else.Human: I wont lie, and forgive my ignorance, I am not sure what IRA is, so I assume its not maxed out. Paying off my debt is pretty much a no go, as I pay student loans roughly 30,000 and I have a car payment about 250 a month. Im more looking to start saving now as opposed to when I pay those off projected 4 years for car, 10 years for loans.  <response>: Youre probably paying much higher interest on your debt than youll ever earn in interest on savings. So youll come out ahead by putting 1000 towards your highest-interest debt rather than putting it in a relatively low interest savings account.But I also agree with LittlePistol that you probably want to have more than 500 available as emergency cash. What if you find yourself out of work, or needing to move into a different place, or your car blows up? Is 500 really going to be adequate? Several thousand would be much more reasonable. 