Should I focus on a starter emergency fund first or pay down my credit cards?

A widely used sequence is to save a small starter cushion first, roughly one thousand dollars or one month of bare-bones expenses, then attack high-interest debt aggressively, and only afterward build the fund up to a full three-to-six months. The logic is that without any cushion, the next surprise goes straight back onto the credit card, trapping you in a cycle; a small buffer breaks that loop. But because credit card interest often runs above twenty percent, you do not want to sit on a huge pile of low-yield cash while that meter runs, so keep the starter fund lean and prioritize the payoff. Once the high-interest debt is gone, redirect those payments into completing your full emergency fund. Adjust the starter size up if your income is unstable.