Back in 2012 I had an mental breakdown at work and stopped working. I got in debt and had cable/internet bill, rent, car payment, car insurance, medical bill, cell phone bill, groceries, fuel and utilities. I filed for unemployment and kept paying everything accept essentials (credit cards (3) and cable/internet). There was not enough money to go around. Then later I filed for my disability... after a very long fight I won in 2016. I started paying off the things that were added to my credit BUT I paid want I can spare. I did a settlement amount which was cheaper than what I owed. I have everything paid off but the credit cards. I did close them all out myself. There listed as closed by client and charged Off by the company. I traded my car in and it's now listed as paid off. I have three other paid off cars on there too. I've been doing good making my car payment....it's less than before. I downloaded Credit Karma and it's been a big help. I can monitor my score regularly and it's going up.