How's a guy to save?

I'm working out my budget, paying attention again to the details and expenditures and working out a plan to pay down cards and get to a point where I'm actually saving money again rather than depleting my savings.  No, this doesn't mean I have a job.  I'm actually trying to work out what my options are given different levels of pay in different locations.  Just weighing my options, so I'm ready to pull one of the budgets out and stick to it when I do land something.

And overall, it's hopeful.  Under one plan in a job that's interesting and has long-term potential to do something kinda fun but doesn't pay well immediately, I could probably pay off my debts within a year and a half if I really stick to my budget.  Under another plan in a job which does pay well but may be slightly less engaging, I could have it all paid off within 9 months and live pretty comfortably, maybe even paying for things like career counseling in the meantime if I'm conservative in other areas.  It's really nice and refreshing to see that I could be debt-free in a relatively short time.

But my concern is that even at the relatively higher pay of the Seattle job, if I'm paying a fairly low $500/month for my own room, according to the budget I've worked out, I'm still only saving about 10-15% in long-term (retirement) funds (I'd still save another 10% or so in funds for car maintenance or payments, medical expenses, travel, etc).  I guess if I have a matching 401K program, I could up that, but still...that doesn't seem comforting in the long-run if I am out of work and have nobody to lean on or stay with for low or free rent temporarily like I have up to now.  Aren't I supposed to be saving close to half of my income, at my age, for future security?  Since my goal is complete financial independence, it's a little frustrating to be stuck at 10-15% for now, particularly if Social Security's future is in question.  Ha, maybe I need to finally read one of those Suze Orman books I picked up at DI last year for cheap.

Of course, the long-term goal is to find a rewarding career path, so none of these jobs would be my end-goal: they'd be means to an end, possibly good experiences along the way.  Whatever I end up doing five years from now will hopefully be at least as lucrative as the support work I'm doing now and will hopefully be more rewarding and engaging.  So I hope to be better off in the long-run.

And I guess this just means my hope of being able to buy all the chocolate I want for decadent homemade delights, or paying for whatever meal I want when I'm out with friends on the weekend, or buying new clothes regularly to stay sharp and crisp, or traveling wherever I want whenever I want, or having my own place with a room to spare for visitors...just have to be kept in perspective.  I'm doing fine now without any of those options, and I kind of like the simplicity.  ...I do have two pairs of jeans becoming holy now, so I need to be able to replace those soon...or start wearing my business casual pants daily.  Oh hey, if I had a job, I would be wearing them daily...OK, back to the whole job-finding thing... :-)