Shocking, right? But it’s true: there ARE times you shouldn’t be putting ANY money into a savings account. That may be a difficult thing to believe but if you’re drowning in debt, putting money into a savings account isn’t the best idea.

Rules Of Thumb are just that, generalized guidelines, and while there may be some people who can regularly stash 50% or more of their income into their ING Direct savings account ^[2], others who are living paycheck to paycheck find it impossible to save a dime. That’s why I believe it’s best to get a solid budget into place prior to getting your savings account off the ground.

Let’s be clear: I’m not talking about your emergency fund. I believe, like the financial gurus ^[3], that you need to get a minimum of $1,000 into an emergency fund ^[4] as soon as possible, but once you have it funded, you should shift your focus to:

• Establishing a livable budget ^[5]
• Paying off consumer debt (credit cards ^[6], cars, store cards, medical bills, etc)

In reality, when you accurately perform the first task, the second task just falls into place. It did for me.