General

Jet Presto


Maybe not three months, but it actually isn't that hard to get a reasonable savings if you're working full-time and not over-exerting yourself financially (meaning, you bought a used car instead of a new one, or you moved into a cheaper place than you could technically afford). Except for when I was in high school, I have always had at least two months' worth of savings (and I didn't have any above-minimum-wage jobs for about three years after high school).

Granted, I'm also fortunate enough to be relatively healthy, so my expenses were pretty limited to car loan, insurance, rent, and groceries for a while.

But yeah, I wouldn't think about "investing" until you have a reliable source of income. Investing requires you to commit a good chunk of money up front, so it's pretty hard to do when you're strapped for cash.

Have you created a personal budget? I find it helpful to log everything I purchase or spend money on each month, and then craft a monthly budget around that, making sure to leave as much room for a "profit" as possible. (So if I earn, say, $1500 a month, I would probably try to limit my budget to as close to $1000 a month as possible.) If you can, just block of something like $150 and say, "This is money I will only spend for unforeseen things, like say my car gets dinged up in a storm, or the muffler goes, or I get sick and have to go to the doctor." And if nothing comes up, throw it in your savings account. (Also, if you don't have one, put stuff in there. It's not so much because it "earns interest," - the amount it earns is entirely worthless - it's more about the fact that it's sort of harder to access in some ways (since for some, you can only withdraw from the savings account a few times a year).

Ultimately, if investing and financial stuff interests you, you should probably talk to your bank. Good chance they have someone who helps with personal finance stuff.

Jet Presto


For me? No. I don't make enough money to really consider that yet. (I imagine in a few years, I'll earn enough to start mulling that over.) Any of that "profit" is money that I move to my savings account, or leave alone as a "bumper," in case anything comes up. I include $150 a month for "unforeseen costs" - like special doctor trips, car repairs, a random speeding ticket - but I also like to keep a healthy amount in my checking account just in case something even bigger comes up. Like last year, I lost two tires to a pot hole and had to get all new tires, and that set me back $900.



If you think you can spare the money. If you're really worried about giving yourself a reasonable amount of financial wiggle room, I'd probably not plan on any major purchases for a while.