<prompt> Human: I went to college and graduated but went to prison soon after about 18 months ago. I just got out on parole and am looking at the aftermath of my finances. Im getting so many letters and calls from so many different companies I dont where to even begin... I know I had 3 credit cards, two from wells fargo and one from capital one. Apparently capital one sold off my debt a while back but wells fargo still has mine? Student loans are all over the place. I know I took out some personal loans through discover but Im lost as who are all the companies or just one company that holds all my regular student debt from the university. I know at some point my loans started coming through another federal company cause of some changes in law but Im completely lost. I just got a big ol pink letter saying my student loans are about to default.While I was in prison, some student loan company found me and sent me a letter and I was able to defer it for a year but that time has passed a few months ago. Right now Im jobless and am crashing at a friends house but Im aware of how serious a student loan default is. This is all beyond what Im mentally capable of handling right now. I just went through a stock pile of letters that were saved in the past year and am too overwhelmed to even know what to do first. What can I even do? Even if I had some crappy job Im engineering by education... my first concern is a roof over my head and food. I dont even know what to tell these people when I figure out the mess of who the hell a actually owe and what. Please help me... I stayed out of trouble in prison and continued studying and try to study programming to maybe get a web dev job on the side. I want to do the right thing and get out of this endless black hole.---EDIT: I spent the last hour reading through every comment here and I think getting a free credit report to see who I owe since I havent really had an address or phone would be a good first step. I should have said my debt is mainly student loans 80k public, 20k private...best guess... and my credit card debt is about 6-7k so Im really iffy about declaring bankruptcy but I will at least talk to a lawyer and learn more about the best route to take.Lastly, I got a lot of positive PMs and comments and even that small boost from a message from an internet stranger gives me hope when I let something like this bring me down. I hope one day I can post an update saying I got a great job, beat the statistics, and give hope to other felons who are trying to do the right thing. It was definitely a life changing experience and has changed my views about the prison system in general. Thank you very much.Assistant: Well, as a felon Conspiracy to commit embezzlement guilty plea for 3 other charges and an engineering student I was literally in your shoes 5 years ago. My priorities were get a job, get a car, get food, get a gym membership, get a house. The job is a self explanatory idea, car is to live out oftemporary , food is also self explanatory, gym because they have showers 90 of the time and can be as cheap as 10 a month. Heck of a lot less than truck stop showers or a water bill. Physical fitness is also very calming for me. The house is the endgame for short term. Set all the bills back until you have a frame and roof over your head and good plumbing under your rear.Career advancement was a big thing. Went from making around 6hr to right under 19 just by staying motivated. Just because you are among the previously incarcerated doesnt mean you cant get a good job.In the end. Pay off the highest interest first. I owed almost 44k and now Im down to 12k with my house paid off and my car paid off as well. Some financing will be an issue for larger loans and for renting apartments and other things. Bankruptcy is always an option, but your already fighting the odds I considered it and Im very happy I didnt do it. Human: Im leaning to not doing it because if I dont include the student loans that I cant do anything about anyways, its only about 6k I owe. Its just so overdue at this point. Its good to hear a fellow engineer has made it. Thank you. Gives me hope in a long tunnel.  <response>: Call the student loan people too, hell, all of the creditors and explain your situation. A lot of times the business just hasnt heard anything from you so they assume youre running away. It can often take one phone call to get a little time. If you can give them even a small amount of money in a couple weeks it can go a long way. They make money on the interest, they loose money by selling your debt. If they think you will eventually repay they wont want to default you either. My cousin handles debts fr a big company, it does depend on who you get on the other end of the line. If you dont like the person you are talking to simply say a nice ok goodbye and call again for a different rep. She always gives people the benefit of a doubt and because of that shes rated in the top producers of her section. Biggest thing she told me thought is dont lie. Follow through with your word and theyll follow through with theirs. 