<prompt> Human: I made some very bad choices. 8 years ago I defaulted on 160k in student loans. I know. Now I want to clean this up but dont know where to begin. Bankruptcy would only discharge about 20k. Im afraid if I even contact a creditor they will all start hounding me again and Ill lose my apartment process servers coming here would get me kicked out, lose my low paying job, even my gf. I know I screwed up bad. I may have some judgments against me. I cant even find all the records. I do want to get on track but It feels so hopeless. I actually feel suicidal. What should I do? What would you do? Please help.  <response>: First off, it is just money. A creditor cannot take blood from a stone and they cannot take essential services from you. 1. So you fucked up with your loans? Okay. If you want to set things right you need to get the rest of your personal finances in order. Make sure you can afford your bills. Dont waste money on frivolous things. Make a budget and stick to it. Start saving for an emergency fund. The debt is not going anywhere and by taking proactive steps youll start to get more confidence in figuring this all out. 2. Figure out what you owe and who you owe it to. Head on over to and see what it says on your credit report. There should be all the debts you owe on that with the names of the companies and then you can figure out how to contact them. 3. Go talk to a bankruptcy attorney to see if you can discharge any of the loans. You may also be able to say that any private loans are outside the scope of the statute of limitations. DO NOT CONTACT ANY COMPANIES BEFORE YOU FIGURES THIS OUT. Contacting them will restart the statutory period. FYI Federal Loans have no statute of limitations. At this point you should be in a good financial place as far as the rest of your life is concerned. 4. Depending on what the lawyer says give the companies a call and see if you can arrange a payment plan. Do not give them your address. If youre worried about them coming to your apartment go buy a P.O. Box at the local post office and have your mail sent there. You can get a street address for a PO box at most post offices now. Set up a payment plan WITHIN your budget. If they wont agree to a payment plan at the level you need then you can just start sending them money. If all of the loans have been subject to a judgment you are going to still need to work on setting up a payment plan. Except that they can legally garnish wages, but again, it must be reasonable. 5. Make your payments on time. Work on making yourself more marketable so you can get better paying jobs and pay more each month while also saving up for financial emergencies. In sum, it is not the end of the world. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are in the same boat as you. Hope is not lost. You incrementally claw back your confidence and financial health. Seriously, you got this. 