<prompt> Human: Im 25 and up until this point I havent been very responsible with my money, but Im working on turning things around. I suffered a serious health problem when I was 1920 which required brain surgery and left me with some pretty major bills even with good insurance. I was young, dumb and sick and didnt keep up with the bills - Ive got probably about 3500 in medical bills currently in collections. For a year or two I had different collections calling harass at me multiple times a day, but I literally had nothing to give them. I also defaulted on a 4000 student loan last year, which has tanked my credit. My other student loans are in good standing. Honestly, my finances have stressed me out so much that I avoid it, which only makes things worse. Now that Ive got a job that pays ok, I have a little bit of flexibility in slowly paying down my debt starting with the student loan default. I would be interested in starting to build my credit with a low-limit credit card, but Im not sure I can even qualify due to my poor credit score around 500. I would love some tips for a paying down debts that are in collections and b starting to build my credit a little. I know it will probably take me many years to recover, but Im really committed to making a change for the better! Thanks in advance for your help.  <response>: You likely arent going to qualify for any cards just yet. Thats OK. Step 1: Make a budget, you need to know exactly what you can afford to put towards your debt. Step 2: Pull your credit report, and figure out exactly how much you owe and to whom. Step 3: Contact your creditors. For your medical debt you may be able to negotiate a pay off amount since its been so long and the debt is so close to aging off your report. Its worth a try. Youve already mentioned rehabbing your student loan. So make sure you do that. You can probably recover your credit pretty quickly if you can pay the debts off quickly. Most impact disappears after a couple of years. 