<prompt> Human: Just a short bio for reference. Im 28, have a 6 month old baby with my fiance and 25,000 in student loans and about 10,000 in credit card debt that is in collections. SO and I work full time and were already paying his student loans and he has a plethora of collections as well.I have yet to figure out how to deal with the creditors, but after avoiding my student loans for months, I finally sucked it up and called the providers. The man I spoke to was very nice, took my information and determined that I would be eligible for an Income Based Repayment Plan and sent me the form to fill out. This way, I can make large payments when I can, but if I cant, at least my minimum payment isnt as large as it was. In addition, he gave me an administrative forbearance that waved my past due amount of 2,000 and brought me back to current. I feel like a million pounds have been lifted off my shoulders and I started to cry when we were wrapping up the conversation. I have so much more to deal with, but I had to take the first step and it was a big one for me. I hope to learn a lot from this sub because my beautiful daughter deserves to grow up with stress free parents and a good home to live in.EDIT: I forgot to add that I have another 10,000 in medical bills due to that adorable baby of mine. :-  <response>: Thank you for this post. I am so happy that you were able to take that first step towards getting your financescredit back on track.For others who may be reading: There are so many flexible repayment options available on federal student loans nowadays - theres really no excuse for defaulting. If youre having a hard time paying back your federal loans, pick up the phone and TALK TO YOUR LOAN SERVICER. Ignoring the debt isnt going to make it go away, and the longer you wait, the harder its going to be to fix.Again, congrats on taking that first step - you can do this! 