+1 devilc, except I don't know about ten percent of your take-home while you've still got debt--unless you've got your emergency fund up to a year's expenses, or six months or three months or a thousand dollars, whatever you think is reasonable at this point but at least a thousand dollars, in which case fund that sucker as much as you can till you hit that point. At least two percent regardless, and beyond that you need math. How much money will you save on interest by paying the debt off as quickly as possible, compared to paying as agreed till the debt's gone? Is that dollar figure a reasonable price tag for boosting your savings by the amount you would otherwise use to pay the debt earlier?
After you're debt-free, yeah, ten percent, fifteen if you want and can, as high as you can go without cutting necessities if you decide you're able and willing to do that. Get a raise? At least three-quarters of it goes to savings. (I do not follow that advice, but my last raise bumped my pay rate up by ten dollars a fortnight, so if I ever get an actual raise I will, but until then ain't no reason to bother.) And count up how much it will cost to XYZ and how long until you expect to X or Y or Z and figure out how much you need to save each month to get there, and if you fall short, adjust something--you could put off adopting by a year or three, for example, in order to make sure you have enough in savings to be comfortable adopting.
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After you're debt-free, yeah, ten percent, fifteen if you want and can, as high as you can go without cutting necessities if you decide you're able and willing to do that. Get a raise? At least three-quarters of it goes to savings. (I do not follow that advice, but my last raise bumped my pay rate up by ten dollars a fortnight, so if I ever get an actual raise I will, but until then ain't no reason to bother.) And count up how much it will cost to XYZ and how long until you expect to X or Y or Z and figure out how much you need to save each month to get there, and if you fall short, adjust something--you could put off adopting by a year or three, for example, in order to make sure you have enough in savings to be comfortable adopting.