I can offer a few ideas from my life. I grant that I am 38 and not in your same straits. However I have had to dig myself out a couple times and am finishing a third dig in two months. · Overpaying debts is as valuable as sinking money into savings. In a certain way it's better because it's not an asset (which goes back to your own statement). The more you pay against a debt, the less you pay later in interest -- we're talking about saving hundreds of dollars as little as a year down the road. · Make payments while a loan is in deferment. This will shrink the principle. Even if you can only pay $50 a month while you work a junk job, your principle will be $300 less before it gets interest. · When a loan or credit card is bearing interest, pay as soon as you get the statement each month. They calculate next month's value based on a daily average of APR, not based on the amount right before the due date. Thus you can wind up saving money with each month. That savings may only be $10 a month on a $500 monthly payment, but that's still half a pizza each month. · If you aren't a TV addict, cancel the TV part of your cable. Even though internet-only cable is usually $15 more per month, the TV starts around $60 with a non-DVR box. There's $45 more to pay down your deferred loan. · Drinking costs money. Junk food also costs money. Every meal you eat at home is at least a $7 savings. Every night you skip at the bar is about $30 to $50 back in your pocket. · A tank of gas is roughly $40 these days. If you take mass transit to work (I'm not sure where you are so that may not be an option), you can save yourself one or two of these each month. · Make your debt reduction a competitive process. I got fascinated with building spreadsheets to figure out exact statements for several months. Use it as a chance to learn more about how money works. My parents were... sorry, ARE... terrible about their finances. In turn I pulled together scholarships for college (because their home equity was far less than they thought) and went to state university. While no one can do that retroactively, one can get savvy about the future.
Yes, this is what you do. Paying down debt (starting with the highest interest rates, like your credit card) is the best "savings" you can do. As stated, the secret is to stop or slow down the amount of digging you do. Then you can start piling up a little bit of proper savings. Good advice is to start a savings or money market account (once you're out of credit card debt) and get that up to about 1 to 2 months worth of income, as a safety buffer, which is kept for true emergencies. Not spending is the key to being able to save. Live within or below your means at all times. Don't binge or have benders. As for retirement savings, start by maxing out your 401k or equivalent once you're fully employed. By that I mean defer at least the amount that maximizes any company match, then as much as you can afford to up to the federal limit. Good luck.