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I love that you posted this & i simply want to encourage you & remind you that 3 years, hell, 10 years goes *really* fast & all daunting tasks feel huge, but it’s small, consistent, progress that’s required to meet our goals. you’re amazing! the life lessons that you have gotten to learn early, before you lose decades worth of assets are great! believe it or not, this overwhelming struggle you’re having now, is building you a solid foundation of wisdom for your entire future. 

Everyone giving advice to follow Dave Ramsey are spot on. Financial Peace can really be found, it's not just a name.
We came back from foreclosure on our house and high credit card debt while we tried to pay our mortgage (used cards for food and gas.) We got the cheapest place we could live, contacted the creditors and they worked with us, and now we own our own home again (in a cheaper state...moved from $$$ California to $ Missouri. ) It's doable. Glad you're getting a handle on this young. Our kids are older than you right now.

The guy may or may not be a jerk. Set aside the jerk part, and listen to his good financial advice. I don't follow the guy to a "T", but his baby steps and other basic advice is solid. You are young. You have time to turn this money issue around. Take it from an old person who was not good with money spending only the necessary to live, and found Dave Ramsey later in life....it is like a do it now, get your act together now, so you don't have money worries when you are older. Promise, it will be harder and harder if you don't act now or as soon as possible.

It’s not dumb, handling finances is something schools don’t teach and most parents don’t teach. You’re in a good spot trying to fix it all at 23 or even 25 years. Collections do stay on your credit for 7 years. You’ll get there, you’re still very young and you’ll be able to get a handle on it all.

Honestly, at your age is worked five jobs. I would work extra jobs till you get caught up on bills and debt. Even if it’s o e day a week as a bartender or delivering pizza. Anything. 
I was wondering..
Have you read any of Dave Ramsey’s books? His personal convictions are not my politics but he does have sound advice on savings, paying off debt, etc.

I’ve been through all that. Debts suck and trying to maintain good credit sucks. But here’s what I’ve learned and am teaching my children:
1. Don’t cancel the cards. Pay them off and only keep and use the 1 card for things like fuel and serious emergencies. Cut up the rest and if possible, lock the card so there’s no issue with someone else using it. Use your 1 card and pay it off every month. If you cancel cards, it will reflect negative on credit score. You can request each credit card company to lower the amount available, which looks good for income to possible debt ratio. Yes, it will be considered possible debt.
Call credit card co to see if they will release some portion of the debt if you agree to pay it off. You can pay minimum to others every month while you pay a big portion to one. I hope that makes sense.
2. Check local laws/policy on hospital bills. I was told I only need to pay $1/month to keep hospital from being able to send to debt collector but that’s probably also through setting up a payment plan. Hey $1 is still something but I’m still assuming that it would need to be closer to $10. Don’t let them hassle you for more. They might also release some debt if you agree to pay it off.
3. Don’t withhold too much in taxes. Put back what is Usually withheld into a savings account that draws interest. If you need to pay in at the end of the year, you still have it. But this gives you some savings and flexibility too. Just make sure you designate it to taxes first.
3. Time. Everything will fall off over time. Do not stop paying anyone and pay on time. Never be late. 3 years for the car is enough time to build your credit in other ways - pay off one card at a time, lower the limit, only use 1 credit card (best to use one with rewards like capital one).
4. Get rid of subscriptions and use that to pay off cards. Then put it towards savings.
5. Rent and save while you can. Homes are very very expensive. Everything breaks. Don’t rush to buy. Let your landlord pay for all issues while you can. Then, make sure to buy a home for a lot less than what they say you can afford. Save the extra money you would’ve put towards mortgage if you bought the more expensive home. You will need it.
6. Don’t buy new. But buy smart. Take your time and shop around. Don’t let anyone rush you and don’t be spontaneous. Do your homework on everything. You will still make mistakes but it gets easier.... sometimes. Read lot of books and blogs. Dave Ramsey is good but I don’t follow his rules. He doesn’t use credit scores to run his life but everyone else does. You want a house, you need good credit. He says to buy it outright. That’s great if you can. I cannot. There’s also a woman that teaches credit and money. Forgot her name though. I’ll comment on my post if I find it. I do listen and follow her a lot.

Phone calls from debt collectors can by legal means. My husband had a debt he just ignored and collectors tried collecting, they took us to court and my husband ignored that too. One day one of our bank accounts was depleted and frozen legally via court decisions. The bank said it was all legal. I’m just glad they didn’t seize the money from my bank accounts (we had just gotten married).

Financial Peace University with Dave Ramsey will change your life!

You are on the right tract. You can negotiate with any creditor. Especially the hospital. Ask if you can pay $10 a month. Or ask if it can be forgiven.
The worst thing any creditor can say is “no”.  It never hurts to ask others advise.
Good luck. You will definitely succeed. You have a plan now. 

Great advice. I appreciate that so much. Luckily I have no subscriptions.
I live very very cheap but some things I do, are not affordable.
I live cheap but "reward" myself from living cheap, and will spend money on other things I want (not always need). I will listen to her. 
Also, I am renting right now, WITH a trailer that has 10000 issues, so money does go into that because it's my SO grandmas and we only have to pay so little to live there so we do the maintenance, but my god it does take a lot of money... Just some back story, but anyway, it's really no excuse we live there ridiculously cheap, I can do it if I really wanted to. Thanks so much for that  all.

I just called and negotiated from 5500 to 2400! I'm so excited I didn't think it would work. I couldn't be more thankful right now.
It is something very inspiring.

I understand that. We rented from family, too. Old trailers are a constant fix.
 I watch speeches a lot and seen his stuff on youtube, I will read and listen to his advice. Malinowski HES the best to motivate you.

I highly recommend you read Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.
I highly recommend Dave Ramsey’s book Total Money Makeover. He talks about a lot of good ways to handle money, get out of debt and stay out of debt.
Dave Ramsey Baby Steps $1,000 emergency fund Knock out debt 6 months income saved Invest 15% in retirement ( College? ) Pay off house. Build wealth & give
I’m not sure what you mean that if you don’t touch it, it will go away. Always pay debts. If you ignore it, the debt will be sold and if you don’t pay hoping it will go away, the collection agencies can wipe out your bank account via legal proceedings.

I pick up extra hours when I can with lack of baby sitter is the hardest thing (that happens). I definitely should’ve been on top of this before a baby. I’m a server and I work at a non profit organization, I have two jobs now. I just downloaded Poshmar app to learn more about savings and preventing bad credit on my records.

I would suggest doordash, I did that a while ago, Grubhub, and Uber eats for extra $ to pay down debts.
Know that the only ones who can touch your bank account are State and Federal Government. No other creditors can touch your bank account.

Yes. You can be taken to court and have a judgement against you.
I think that you should get a second job doing something different than what you do now. You’ll learn some new skills and also get the debt paid off. Every time you get  ahold of the smallest amount of money, send it off to pay a bill.
Consider a job that pays tips, because you can make more money than just hourly if you’re in the right job. Or try selling on commission for that second job.

You can and will rebuild your credit. Just keep doing your best.
I filed bankruptcy years ago...needed a fresh start...only took me 4 yrs to get a decent credit score...

If your car is in collections, then the collection company paid a fraction of the amount you owed “for the paper”. Offer them a ridiculously low amount to pay the debt back - NOT the full amount. Like, seriously, $1000 or so. Make that payment in two installments - rather than obligating yourself for 3 years to service a debt to a company that bought it “at a discount”. Then, read up on how different types of credit work - you have installment loans, lines of credit, etc. At your age, the more you can learn, the better off you will be in the long run. It’s good you want to plan for your future - and the more knowledge you have will give you the ability to plan and make wise choices later.

Wow, I had no idea that could even be an option... Thank you so so much.  Definitely will try that!! Thanks also for the great information.
Even thought, I could do a little more research on this. Make sure the amount they charged off won't show on yr credit report as amount still owing. Will settling for a lower amount be a negative in the future when applying for a loan? Something to think about.

You need to look up Dave Ramsey. I had a lot of debt and listened to him and really turned my credit around. In less then 4 years everything I have other then my house is paid off and I have a savings account!!
It was very hard work but worth it for my peace of mind