Limit Extra Debt Payments!

If you are paying down debt, don’t pay less than the minimum payment just to contribute to your emergency fund. But if you’re minimum payments are manageable, then build your emergency fund while you are paying down debt. Until you have at least three months of emergency savings, consider putting 50% of your available funds toward extra debt payments and 50% toward your emergency fund. -Shelly-Ann Eweka, a wealth management director at TIAA Charlotte, N.C.