I have 5 things from Sept 2011 around $1,100 total. I am working minimum wage so it is hard for me to pay these. Is there really going to be a HUGE difference on my Credit if I do a settlement opposed to Payment in Full. I can't get any type of credit at all right now. Please Help me out Is there any other ways to try and do this?

Don't know if this helps or not but I had an outstanding bill of $2000.00 with Verizon and settled with a collection agency for $1100.00. Made 2 payments in Dec. 2012 and as of today Jan 2013 it increased my score 15points. So I guess settled in full helped mine.

Payment in full will give you a higher score. How much higher is a secret kept by the people you manage the formula for calculating scores.

It will definitely look better than a delinquency or judgment and will let you recover your credit score more quickly.

Question Seely1218, the 5 things you have to pay, are any of them installment loans where you can take a payment and put it towards the end of the loan? This might just free up enough money to pay something else off so its not re-ocurring. But know that when you do this it might increase the total amount paid on the loan because of interest. When you free up one bill take that money and apply that towards other bills. Paying bills on time keeps you out of late fees and as such will keep that money in your pocket. Always pay in full as opposed to settle in full!

Payment in full is better than a settlement,
A Settlement is better than non payment

At this point if you are not paying them and they are reporting late and non payment, anything is better than that