[Fillanzea]

The situation:

I am 24. I have a part-time professional job making 19,000 a year. So, I'm living with my parents. (I graduated without enough experience, in a tough job market for my field; I expect to get a full-time position next year making about $36,000, and move out).

I'm putting about $150 a month into a 401k including the company match. In addition to that, I have about $200 or so a month that I can save. I want to buy a cheap used car in about two years, and a house eventually. I have no debt, $850 in savings, and $700 in a mutual fund (parental gift). Also, because I anticipate spending my career in government or university jobs, I'm likely to have some kind of pension when I retire.

The question: how should I save my money? Should I try to save about $200/month for eventually buying a car, house, appliances, furniture, that kind of thing? Or should I be diverting more of that money into my 401k?