<prompt> Human: A little over three years ago, my then-boyfriend and I broke up. At the time, we had divided bills where I was paying 23 of all of our bills and he was paying about 13. This was because his debt was being garnished for what he claimed was a car he got in his name for a girl he was engaged to marry and she ran off with it and didnt make the payments. In retrospect, his ALREADY HAVING A GARNISHMENT was a huge red flag I missed because I was very young and thought I was in love. When we broke up, we were only one-third into a lease I couldnt afford on my own especially not, as I later found out, since he hadnt been paying his 13 of the bills for months now, letting them go into collections and hiding the evidence. I begged him not to move out because I knew we would end up getting evicted. Of course, he did anyway and was given a super-sweet rent-to-own deal by a relative, meaning he now does not care at all about any of our shared debt. Were talking 400 a month for a year and then calling it even sweet. I did my best to stay on top of what I could, but as I found out, we were already in collections with anyone he was supposed to pay and right after he moved out, our utilities were shut off and I had to pay almost 500 to turn them back on.As I was trying to catch back up on bills, I got laid off from work, then subsequently had my car repossessed and lost my apartment. I was homeless and on the streets with nothing looking for work, which ended up being a self-perpetuating cycle, because without a phone, I couldnt get anyone to even think of hiring me. Not only that, but I had no where to keep my stuff when I was evicted, so the only clothes I had were the things I got in the free box at a local homeless youth day center. Fast forward to now: Im working a full time factory job with no benefits. It was the best I could do after a long gap in employment. Im subletting an apartment, I have a prepaid phone 30month and I used a prepaid Walmart card for my checks because I cant get a bank account due to bad credit. I use public transportation and dont own a car. I am writing this using a neighbors wifi. I make around 1000 a month after taxes and I can finally afford to start paying off my debt, but now, everything Im reading says that unless a creditor accepts a pay for delete offer, paying off an item in collections does nothing to help your credit score and actually makes it worse.I have a a repossession though I dont actually owe anything - its the balance 4600 of the car loan from before it was sold, b medical debt to the tune of around 4k total that is unrelated to him thanks to going to the E.R. more than once since I lost my insurance, c a charged-off credit card with a final balance of 556 the only item not in collections, d apartment debt to the tune of 680, e a collections debt with a cable company for 150, and f a joint bank account that we apparently owe 300 in overdraft fees though only the fees alone, since all of the actual paid items were reversed. The collections company our apartment debt is through and its the biggie to me, since its one of the reasons I cant even be listed on a lease as a co-occupant at any of the complexes where Ive tried renting a room from people on craigslist is NOTORIOUS for not deleting under any circumstances and never remotely considering PFD requests. I assume this, despite not helping my credit score, is something I want to settle ASAP, yes?What about my other debts? Just keep trying to PFD them? What do I do whenif they refuse to delete and will only mark as paid in collections? Right now my credit score is lower than low because this debt that I have now makes up pretty much the only revolving accounts that have ever been reported to my credit report, so Im not sure Im even one of those people who paying in collections hurts. TL;DR: When my ex left me, I went into a shit-ton of debt that he does not care to ever help pay off, so its on me. I want to get out of debt and get my credit in line enough to rent an apartment in my name, maybe have a bank account again somewhere and have things in my own name in the future. All my debt is in collections. Where do I start?PS. I know Im an idiot and an irresponsible douchebag. I made bad choices. Im trying to figure out how to fix it. Can we keep the trolling to a minimum?  <response>: Actually, it sounds like after all that you have been through you are on the right track. Kudos to you. But considering all of the obstacles you have before you, you are placing way too much emphasis on the value of your credit score and credit report. In comparison to stuff like avoiding homelessness, your health and paying for your next meal, your credit score should be pretty far down on your list of concerns. 