<prompt> Human: When I had just turned 18, my wisdom teeth became impacted and needed to be removed. So I signed up for some credit card that promised me no interest if I paid it off in a year. Well, I joined the army shortly after that and forgot about it. Checking my credit score last year Im 26 now I find a charged off account. The 4,000 dollar charge had blossomed into a 5600 mammoth. Combined with my other debt, my unemployed self was looking at 7100 in debt. While a pittance compared to a lot of debts on here, Its still enough to effect my credit score 529 when I checked, currently sitting at 583Well, One trip to Liberia and 6 weeks working in an Ebola treatment unit, and I have enough money to make a dent in the debt. I called the Collection group that now held my original dental debt, and told them today I would pay them 2000 right now to settle the debt. I was actually just low balling, and willing to pay up to 3K to negotiate, but to my surprise they accepted. My debt went from 7100 to roughly 1800 in a matter of minutes, and only cost me 2,000. Sorry, I just had to share this with someone. Im pretty excited.  <response>: Just FYI- cancelled debt is taxable income in the US. The creditor may be required to report to the IRS that they forgave 3,300 and you will have to pay income tax on it. Still better than paying all of it, but heads up! 