First off tell the wheel spinner nice job, virtual or not, it landed on my name so I am pretty happy with that.

I think a balanced approach is best when it comes to trying to save and de-debt oneself. Debt is something that most people are going to have for a while, it is part of life, we just need to know when enough is enough.

Savings is something not enough people have. I think a good number for people to try for is to get to at least the same amount in savings as your second year of work earnings were. This will take time. If at the end of your second year at work you made 10,000 dollars then this is the first savings goal a person should have. This would hopefully be reached when you can remember what it was like to live on that 10,000 dollars a year.

Second goal should be to increase your savings to what you earn in the year you reach your first goal with 10% added on top of it. So if you now make 50,000 dollars a year shoot for 50,500 dollars to add to your savings. Hopefully you did not reach a point where you had to use your emergency funds, but stuff does happen, and if you get lucky your savings will be a bonus to your regular retirement account.