I know quite a bit about this as I went through a lot of it. Visit
CreditBoards.com - Credit Help, Credit Repair Tips, News, Forums and read...
My advice - do not let them go past 30 days late. IF they already went into collections, they are already effecting your reports and if they arent reporting, they will soon. Do not let them charge off either. Work with the companies and ask about hardship programs, most will do it as the alternative is them not getting paid.
For credit cards, you MUST make the minimum payments or they will report you as late. One late can drop your score more than 50 points and its hard to get that removed, though not impossible.
For Collection agencies - Do NOT talk to them at all, do not promise to pay, dont even pick up the phone if they call. Do everything in writing. If you get a CA (collection agency) notice, the little bit they put on there that says... "You must dispute this debt within 30 days or we will assume this debt to be valid" You need to respond to that within that 30 days stating you dispute it or you lose legal options....
recovering from bad credit sucks. One time I had over 17 collections on my reports...(Its how I got through college), I have since removed 14 with "letters" and others have dropped off due to age... I have threaten legal action with some and they folded, and I have 2 left that wont budge.
What ever you can do to avoid getting lates on your reports do it... If it means selling a bike, need to consider that...
Medical bills - If they are already in collections they can be easy to delete... Florida has some good credit protection laws when it comes to medical... Ask for proof of the debt....if the CA supplies it and the amount is listed...They just violated the law and that can mean money in your pocket to the tune of $1000 per violation. I used that with 3 collection on my wifes report....they all folded and were deleted.
There is a wealth of knowledge on creditboards.com.... I would highly recommend you reading up on that a lot.
And bankruptcy isnt an option anymore as there is no more a true Chapter 7. You have to pay back your debts and you still get hit with a bankruptcy for 10 years. It only prevents you from getting sued.