[laceshawl]

Budget budget budget! Work out how much you have going out as well as coming in and how much you can put aside.

You don't say whether you have any loans. If so, you need to pay them off, ASAP. Whatever your loan situation, you should first have an emergency fund. I second Dave Ramsey's suggestion of $1000 if you have loans, if you don't ,aim at fully funding it with 3 - 6 months expenses. The online account is good for this, or you could look at buying Govt bonds.

Retirement. Ask about your company's plan; do they match contributions? If so, take advantage of it for all your worth. The sooner you start, the less you need to pay. 10 % of pay is a good figure to aim at. If your company has no plan, look at starting your own individual retirement account.

Consider your long term plans. What do you want to do in the future? Get married? Buy a house? Do post grad study? Travel? Start putting money away for these goals. If you plan to do something within the short term, say within 5 years, I would stick to low risk savings vehicles. Longer, you can afford to invest in the stock market.

Hope that helps.