working for a bank, i would suggest saving as much as you can, and borrowing as little as you can. Shop around for the best deal that you possibly can. Loans that are secured are genearlly cheaper, but if you have nothing to secure against, your out of luck.
Just out of interest,(pun intended), whats your credit limit on a credit card, because you can often get '0% for 12month' deals on a credit card (well you can here in UK), and switch the balance around. You'd have to pay a small fee for each switch, but thats a lot less than paying full interest. If you can borrow $5000 on a credit card, even if you have to switch that 10 times at a 3% transfer fee, its not going to cost you as much as a loan.
Just as a note, im from UK, so your credit system may be slightly different than ours...