<prompt> Human: EDIT: My bad if this is all a bonehead question... I guess part of me just wanted someone to talk to about my situation. I really dont have anyone who knows what Im going through. My main Questions: What if any are the best practices when paying off a large amount of debt to a debt collector? Do you really just call them up pay over the phone and ask them to mail you documentation? Are there any things I can do to take advantage of the situation e.g. Things like taking out a credit card that offers airline points beforehand and use that to pay the debt to accumulate airline miles?. Is there any wiggle room or negotiation on paying off my debt? How do I protect myself from the debt reappearing later My Debt: 18,007 6,140 in debt collections 5263 - Student Loan 1 6604 - Student Loan 2 127 - Utility Bill in debt collections 118 - Phone Bill in debt collections 101 - Cable Bill in debt collections 5794 - Bill to my University in debt collections This is for my last semester of college, which I didnt take a student loan out for. I looked into this and I do have a degree, but because of this debt Ive never been mailed my diploma. My Income 2,200month in income 15,500 in Savings so far 500month in expenses I moved back home so no major expenses other than utilitiesbillsfood cost My Situation: I paid my way through a school and graduated in 2013 with a degree in applied math environmental hydrology. I spent all the money I had moving to Washington DC for a 6-month internship at a fairly prestigious research organization doing environmental geospatial analysis. I was making way below minimum wage, on food stamps, living in a terrible DC neighborhood. At the end of the internship, I didnt get the job; my project role was given to grad student from an Ivy League. I couldnt compete with that. After 200-300 job apps elsewhere I had a few interviews but zero job offers. I then moved home and took a job as a food server and a 2nd job working in a warehouse shipping packages for a bicycle company. Im exhausted all the time. Im depressed and somewhat jaded by the job process. In what free time I am teaching myself computer coding - github, html, css, javascript, jQuery, mapbox.js, leaflet.js and a slew of other GIS specific coding languages. I taught myself web-mapping and I will be giving a presentation on a project Ive been working on at a Meetup Group of GeoDevelopers later this month. I try and remind myself how much hard other people have it. I could be a Syrian Refugee, or Iraqi War Vet - how the fuck am I depressed over not having a career? But I hate that I cant break my cycle of thinking. I grew up poor, and absolutely nothing would make me happier than to be able to take care of my mom the way she took care of me. I cant believe how difficult it is to get a job even when qualified. Sorry for the sap but getting out of debt takes such an emotional toll. TLDR: under-employed millennial  <response>: For all debt in collections: Send written debt validation letters via certified mail. Use the Wiki on creditcollections to assist you. Upon receipt of validation, youll have dollar amounts owed assuming everything is validated. Pay that amount.For debt NOT in collections youll want to request the final payoff amount... then pay that amount. 