<prompt> Human: Basically... I have ignored my student loans for a little over 3 years now. Finally, my husband and I are in a position we can start making payments and not be living paycheck to paycheck. I dont know where to start. The loans were passed off to a large variety of creditors... with massively inflated rates... My ideal would be, and this is what Id love advice on how to do... consolidate everything, get everything negotiated down to a reasonable amount like perhaps how much I originally owed, and make monthly payments. I dont really feel comfortable doing this with a single collection agency and having them handle things. Do I talk to an attorney? Are there services for this? Any advice would be great.  <response>: Student loans dont go away, they just accrue interest if not paid. The sooner you take the care of them, the better. I lived paycheck to paycheck for a while too but I still at least made minimum payments. I dont know what a lawyer can do for you other than be another costly expense since student loans are one of the only loans no court can make disappear. If I was a collection agency, I would have no reason to settle. I would call each company directly skip the collection agency and see if you can work out a plan with them. If they tell you to call the collection agency, then just call them and see if you can build a payment plan. I know because 2 out of 5 of my student loans are in my dads name due and the amount at the time I took them out. When my dad filed for bankruptcy a couple of years ago, he literally lost everything but those two student loans. Which didnt matter to him much because I was paying them. 