I just opened a high interest savings account. Yay. Been meaning to do that. My husband disagrees. He wants to pay off ALL debt before saving. I understand his point of view, that the higher interest rates trump any piddly savings interest rate. Yes, they do. However, we are humans, not mathematical robots, and I am motivated knowing I am sacking away a little bit of $ on the side (and for now, in secret). I think it's sad I am hiding a savings account from him. I just don't want to deal with the argument. Meanwhile, we are still aggressively attacking the debt.
I think it's smart to (1) pay yourself first, and to (2) have an emergency fund in place even while in debt.