<prompt> Human: Ill try to make this as readable and understandable as possible. My goal is to get debt free so I can continue a career in filmmaking and continue taking in gigs and reach my end goal as a DPDirector of Photography.Backstory--- Dad requested 10k in 2012 from my line of credit to fix our house saying he would pay me back only for him to leave the family, have another family and have the house short saled. Petty SOB. - Dad used my Social number at same bank to request 2 credit cards4k each with out my conscent weird right?, and maxed them out and stole my gap visa card2k I kept with my mom and maxed that out thx mom. Confronting him a billion times about it makes him mad and usually ends up him almost fighting me and my mom because of his anger issues.- Because of my Dads antics, my mom and younger brothers have moved back to Hawaii with her relatives in 2013. Ive been sending money to my mom until this year when she got a job. - Work at same job for 5 years Clinical Lab, 35k salary Higher positions from here require degree- Photo business helps pull in at at least extra 5k a year.- No College credits: Carpooled first 2 years of work because of saving for a car thus no school. Last 3 years, decided on building my own business with photography, weddings, and basically a production company. Used the money I earned to buy equipment and ex girlfriend of 4 years I spent a lot of money going places I wanted to photograph.- I stopped paying for the loan after I realized I was going more broke first 2 years trying to beat the interest rates and paying it off. So I stopped paying and started saving the money Bills - 1020 Bi-Weekly 2040Month--- Rent - 400m with current girlfriend room mating- Phone - 110m - 20gb of data. Might lower it but need to stay up to date with media trendsemail clients for business that takes up a lot of data etc. Always on the go. - Car Insurance - 102m - Geico - Car Payment - 392m with 19k left. Car under Girlfriends name because my credit wasnt enough to get approved, reliable 2015 civic I need to travel long distances for shoots and carry gear. Her car is getting old so this is for the both of us. But I insure the car under my name and her as the secondary driver. Re-financing soon.- 401k - 70 Every week goes into Retirement with over 8k saved up since 2014. Work gave out Retirement bonuses for long time employees.- Storage - 78m - Mom Brothers things they left behind. No space in girlfriends place to keep them. - Gas - 20 weekRougly 1,172 in bills a month, and around probably 800 saved if I dont go anywhere fargo out a lot. I dont eat out as much as my GFs family knows my situation and they can cook for meI cook for them. My savingsE-Fund account only has 4,000, but with these defaulted loans looming over my head, with no support from my POS biological father gone, I feel trapped and have a huge feeling Ill get sued and have my checks garnished. My options came down to:- Filing Bankruptcy - Found one for 1,350 that my friend used and referred me to, and continue my life with out credit for 3 years. Ive lived with out credit use for 3-4 years and only cashdebit, so why not?Or- Pay off the Defaulted Loan with 24 Interest Rates but be super broke for YEARS and literally disabled from doing anything, especially continue my career in filmmaking. Id have to stay in his dead end job that stopped giving raises 2 years ago because they also filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. I dont see myself owning a house or property anytime soon unless I find a way to earn a big income with no college degree. Reddit, I will take any insultcriticismsuggestionrecommendationassistance, anything to help put my foot in the door of salvation and on the road to be debt-free, financial stability. Down the road, maybe afford to buy my girlfriend in an engagement ring in the future maybe 5 years from now. Houses can wait. Thank you so much for taking your time reading this. Assistant: Just going over your budget:Rent - A-ok, pretty fair.Phone - way too expensive, switch carriers or find a different plan. There are cheaper options.Car insurance - pretty affordableCar payment - you cant afford this. Having your girlfriend on the title also complicates things. What happens if you split ways?401k - take advantage of company match and no moreStorage - What for? Photography equipment? Gas - pretty cheap.How much are you putting towards your debt each month? Edit: your dad is an ass.Human: I had a bullet point above that I stopped paying the loans. I had a meeting with a bankruptcy attorney and he looked up my credit with the history on paperdefaulted accounts that accrued up to 25k. It hasnt risen past year fortunately. I didnt continue forward with filingYeah the car is low miles but its as reliable as it can get from my past shitty car ownership. I had a 240sx for daily driving and I dont want to go through an old car again missing work, depending on someone for rides at 4am in the morning, car down for repairs. I dont see ourselves splitting ways knock on wood anytime soon but knowing my own integrity, I wont ruin her namecredit by paying everything on timefull.  <response>: As an FYI for future purchases. There is a huge range of vehicles between 1k junker and 22k brand new vehicle on an 8 loan that are reliable. 