re: Ok, I want to save some money

You're in good hands, based on what I've read on the first page.

1) Don't worry about returns now - worry about building up savings. 10% on a $100 investment won't buy you dinner a lot of places.

Although I think now is not a terrible time to experiment a little bit with investments, so long as you understand you will get burned a few times. There is something to be said for investing so much in a single stock that it keeps you up at night - when all you have is $1000. Losing your life savings isn't nearly as bad when you're 25 as when you're 65, but you don't forget the experience either way.

2) A great way to be sure you build up savings is to set up an automatic plan either with your employer or with your bank.

3) Learn how to handle credit. There isn't anything magic about it, just keep the rate as low as possible for as long as possible.

4) Use the proceeds wisely. This is completely separate from the decision to borrow. If you invest in something that depreciates very fast (stereos, cars, etc.) then you are losing money very fast. Whether you borrowed the money or not doesn't change this. For example, if you spend money on something that goes up 5% a year, borrowing at 3% is a perfectly fine thing to do, banks get rich doing this.

What screws people up is buying that really neat 1000 inch LCD screen for $10000 that will be worth $2000 next year, meanwhile paying 20% interest on the loan. So next year they can say that, hey I spent $12K on a TV screen only worht $2K. They literally spent ten grand for the rush.

But if you can borrow at 4% today to fund current expenditures while you sock away more in your 401(k) with extra company match, that can be a good deal. Bottom line is don't be afraid to borrow if it really is a good idea.