<prompt> Human: When I was 17 I managed to get a credit card in my name with a 5000 limit... as you might imagine I was not very smart with it. I ended up maxing it out within a year and then making the minimum payments while I was in school for several years. I lived in an apartment never in the dorms and worked part time to pay for my rentfoodcarcredit card. I was making pretty good money for a part time position 14hr, but during my third year of college I lost my job and ended up falling behind on everything. I got another credit card with a 2000 limit and used that to pay my bills while I looked for another job but could not find one making more than half what I was. I ended up maxing that card, adding another 1000 to my first one on the overdraft protection loan, and then only making 7.50hr I still could not afford my bills. My car was repossessed, I was almost evicted but managed to avoid that, and I stopped paying my credit cards completely. I managed to get back on track so that I could live, but I was still avoiding my credit cards which ended up in collections. During my final year of college I was sued by both of them, they both got judgements against me, and I ended up filing chapter 13 bankruptcy. The total debt written off was just over 20k after all of the fees and interest and the remaining balance on my car loan and a few smaller debts that I havent mentioned. My repayment plan terms were 200mo for 5 years, which is ending at the end of this year.I now work as a software developer and make around 50,000 48k last year, more this year. My credit is awful, I havent gotten the actual scores but I get the free reports every year and they look terrible. I am pretty much clueless about what I should do to help myself, I have filed some claims with the reporting agencies about bad marks on my reports that should have been included in the bankruptcy and all of them were actually changed in my favor so I am proud of doing that much at least. I need to know how to start rebuilding my credit at the end of this year once I am finally done with the bankruptcy repayment plan, because until then I cannot get any new lines of credit, and I havent since I filed for it 4.5 years ago.If you need any more info please ask, I am not even sure what anyone might need to give me some good advice, but that is my story, thanks for reading.---Thank you everyone for your suggestions, advice, and kind words. I appreciate every reply. When the time comes Ill probably be back to ask you guys to suggest a secured credit card to get.  <response>: So you faced a judgement 5 years ago and all those debts willl be paid off at the end of the year? Good news. Youve only got 2 years to go until your credit rebounds. In the meantime, stay out of new debt, save for emergencies and continue living your life. Bankruptcy is not the end of your life, just a major hiccup. Youre almost done. Hang in there. 