[poundwise]

I think the answer is, it depends.

If you have high balance, high interest revolving credit, by all means, have a smaller emergency fund for the car or unexpected home repairs or the doctor's office and throw the rest of your money at the debt.

It would seem very odd and a poor choice to me, for instance, if you had a credit card with a $3K balance at 16% while you have $5K sitting in a savings account.

I'm not saying anyone is proposing this. I am just demonstrating that what may be good in one circumstance may not be good for all.

I think $1K is plenty of emergency savings when you are talking about unexpected but fairly possible potential expenses. I think it is woefully inadequate if you are talking about dealing with a major medical set-back (i.e. - if you're uninsured or underinsured) or to get one through a period of lay-off/joblessness. Like I said, it depends.