I can understand where you are coming from because I am in the same boat. Not as many collections I have 1-2 depending on what report you look at. But the SL debt is about the same. Waiting until Feb hoping to get 20k paid down.
I think a good idea is to start a Chime account. I have had mine for over a year. It comes with checking and savings and you can get a credit builder credit card that reports to all 3. Just put 200 on that and make small charges like Netflix on it. Then pay it off each month right away. it will definitely not improve your credit any but it's good practice and also account history you can have while paying down all that debt.
I'm not saying it will be easy and it sucks spending so much, especially as a parent. But if you are serious about improving your credit then take small steps and just make payments when you can. Be patient and don't go into further debt. Don't get caught up in the YT videos saying how to get out of debt in 3 months. It's not going to happen fast and most of those videos are to pump you up to buy something. I'm excited to see how you do with your journey. I am also just starting out so it will be good to see where we are in 2 years.
Good luck to you.
