"You should at least have three months' worth of expenses set aside for your rainy day fund so that if you were to get laid off from work, you're not immediately going into financial crisis," says Brenda Wenning, principal with Wenning Investments in Newton, Mass.
Grads in unstable professions should aim for six months' worth of savings. If banking that much seems out of range, aim for a few thousand first. The Consumer Federation of America shows that the average person encounters about $2,000 in unexpected expenses annually.