Thanks for both of your posts. I'm still in debt, 4 years later from when I posted this thread. Pfft. I didn't have a credit card at at the time, just cable tv and cellphone and student loan bills. But bills nonetheless. Still have those bills and mistakenly opened up a low-credit, high interest rate credit card to use for gas and only gas.

I did go to a local nonprofit to meet with an accountant about debt consolidation. She told me that while they do call creditors on behalf of their low income clients, it doesn't always work. Then, I went to see a lawyer via my city's Legal Aid service, who does pro bono work with debt collection. He said he could write letters to my creditors, but all that does it stop them from contacting me; my debt would not vanish from my credit report.

So, as a result, I've been proactive lately with my debtors; prioritizing shelter and food costs first, gasoline for my car second, and all of those bills third. Yes, the downside is they charge me interest, or charge off my account. But I also know that my debt is supposed to disappear after five years from my credit report and that even though debt collectors can sell charged off debt to each other, I'm on to that scam now and know exactly what my consumer rights are, financially-speaking. I would rather pay my rent, than my cable tv or phone bill. Who am I going to call anyway? Ghostbusters? (that's a joke fyi). No one uses their cellphones to call each other anymore; it's all email and text and video chats anyway. I did get rid of my cable tv package, turned in my equipment. I made 2 very small payments so that it stays out of collections. Same with that low-credit, high interest rate card; just very small minimal payments.

I am constantly juggling my finances every week, but at least I have more knowledge about what my rights are, what some budget strategies are, and how to survive without having to file bankruptcy again or get evicted. Knowledge is definitely power. Thanks again for your input.