<prompt> Human: I lived very irresponsibly from ages 22-28. Im 29 now, and last summer I had enough of being stupid. I decided I wanted to get my life in order. Here was my situation last summer:-checked my credit report for the first time in my life. Score 474.-Three collections account, total 1500.-68,000 in student loan debt. 29,000 in private,I never paid in single bit of it because I was too upset and ignored all the phone calls until I changed my number.-One overdrawn bank account from a credit union I didnt use anymore, 960. -No credit card debt because I never had a credit card.-6,000 in savings-never had a car loan-56,000 year salaryHeres what I did:-got a secured credit card, 200 limit, 100 down payment-settled private loans for 5,500. Shows up as settlement on my report-consolidated government loans, 39K, I pay 450 a month. Am current on my loans, 7 interest :-got rid of two collections because they werent mine. They are completely gone from my report-other collections, my fault, paid that completely. Shows up as 0 on report-bank issue-was from a previous landlord. Took them to small claims court and they lost, they paid everything. This item completely removed from my report. My current situation:-credit score raised to 638-credit card company returned my deposit, raised my limit to 500. I rarely use more than 50 on this card, and I pay it as soon as it shows up in the app, way before the due date.-my loan amount barely decreased!! Ive paid a few thousand but it only went down by 500-was denied for two credit cardsWhat else should I do? The reason I was prompted to write this was because my car is about to die and someday I would like to be able to lease a car so Im not left stranded in 100 degree heat again, and I would like to buy a house  <response>: I pay it as soon as it shows up in the app, way before the due dateStop doing this. When you pay off charges immediately after they post, it looks like you arent using the card at all because a statement generates with no balance. This does not help your credit. Use your card for already budgeted for purchases that you could afford to pay for with cashdebit, let a statement generate, and pay the statement balance in full by the due datemy loan amount barely decreased!! Ive paid a few thousand but it only went down by 500Thats likely because most of what youve been paying so far is only paying the interest. What are the interest rates on the loans? How much are you paying on them every month? Youre probably going to have to pay a significant amount each month to get the debt down quicklyWhat else should I do?The best thing for credit is time. As the negative marks on your credit report age, they will affect you less and will eventually drop off your report entirely. Keep using your credit card responsibly and hammer away at your debt.I would like to be able to lease a carGenerally leasing a car is a bad financial decision. You will, in most cases, be better served buying a used car thats a few model years old and driving it until it dies. 