What service should I use to best monitor credit, debts, and items in collections?

[Anonymous]

So the last year hasn't been kind to me and for several months, I've been in survival mode so any bill that wasn't crucial or guaranteed housing or food was neglected in favor of, well, housing and food. Because of this, I landed a lot of stuff in collections and am in a lot of debt. Problem is I am aware most of it was sold to a collection agency, but I don't know where, when, and how much of it. They usually send information by mail, but I was living in my car for a while so I sent everything to a drop center and only actually checked the mail when I went there to shower/eat. Otherwise I didn't check it often and a lot of my collections got mixed up it seems. I moved and changed my address to where I'm at now and get mail, but (oddly) haven't gotten much in terms of my debts. I don't know if it's because it all got sent to the drop center or if it's just not being considered or what, but I know I didn't pay it or anything so it must be SOMEWHERE. 

I do want to start making payments, but the whole issue of me not knowing where it's been sold/sent is obviously a huge issue. And I don't want to pay, for example, $500 on a debt only to check my report and realized it was sold for $300. So I want to know the exact amounts I owe too, that way I can plan it all properly along with my other bills and debts and not overpay. I am a little OCD and prefer correct information and as much as possible. Like I like to see who I owe it to, how much, when it was added/they got it, and (if possible) the original source. 

I used to use CCT but I read that they're slowly becoming more like CK and losing accuracy. However, they're cheap and that's why I liked them a lot. I also used myfico and am not sure what made me convert here from CCT, but I love the accuracy of everything and seeing updates and things added to my report. The downside is price. I am both a little offset and confused by the pricing. I'm seeing $60 when I wanted to get an updated 3-bureau credit report, but then $40 when I checked the monthly option. So not sure if it's $60 or $40 as is.

Overall, I will pay for one but not both. I want a service that'll allow me to, yes, monitor my credit obviously. But also allow me to get good information on my debts in collections and updates everything monthly like I'm paying for. I like it to be as accurate as possible and definitely monthly. Should I do CCT or myfico, or a different service I'm not considering but is equally as good? 

[Anonymous]

“I used to use CCT but I read that they're slowly becoming more like CK and losing accuracy.”

This is not true. CCT provides a FICO score. Credit Karma does not. CCT is just as a accurate as it has always been. What you may have read is that Experian (which owns CCT) has fully transitioned CCT to an Experian site. Now when you go to CCT you get the same experience as Experian.com. Even the $1 trials.

As long as Experian continues to offer the $1 for all 3 FICO scores...continue to do them. Use Credit Karma to monitor your reports. Don’t bother with the scores. They are not FICO scores. They are accurate but not as useful to you in your daily rebuild. But the reports are accurate and you should be checking in on them weekly when they update. I won’t get into a long explanation but use the reports don’t worry about the score. When you see a score if it does not say FICO, it’s not FICO. But I’m not saying get your scores from MyFICO. It’s an expensive option and you don’t need to right now.

[Trudy]

To second Morpho, Credit Karma is a great tool for reports as you get an update weekly.  It shows collections.  There are many others like CK that don't provide FICO scores but provide report details.  WalletHub is another one and it provides daily updates. 

[Anonymous]

I probably should have pointed out that I have been having significant issues with even using CK to the point of not using it. I got my name changed three years ago and, since then, it's been just awful trying to use the site again and prove that the name showing up under my social is still me and the person trying to access said account is, also, me. It went from me just logging in (pre name change) to me spending a good length of time failing in an attempt to prove I'm the person using it so I gave up with CK altogether. I'll give it a try again, but just thought I'd point out why I personally haven't even been glancing at the site.

I will, however, try what you've said and your advice. I don't want to spend a lot in an effort to monitor my credit reports, so hopefully this works and CK lets me through (finally!).