Others have asked, and I've always intended to share some of the things that seemed to help. It isn't well thought out or organized but here's some things...

First I should point out that I'm in Texas and there's a few big advantages it gave me that many people don't have. The biggest advantage is there's no wage garnishment here! After that, a person's homestead is always exempt no matter how much equity they have. Beyond these was the fact that I had virtually no assets worth going after. It was also comforting knowing I had little to lose once I decided Bankruptcy was imminent.

The most obvious thing to do is to understand the collectors and see them in the right perspective. They have a duty to try to get money out of you for thier client, the original creditor. If they can't get money they need to be able to say they're trying everything they can. You should also understand that they are generally liars and cheats and will resort to whatever game or tactic they think will deliver results.

One thing I decided was that talking to them was my way of helping them claim they're doing thier job. They've all got lots of customers to harass and they harass the ones that seem like they might pay and the ones that try to hide. My goal was to talk to them enough to make them feel like I was not hiding, and in return the calls would only happen once or twice a week from most of them.

Although a suprising number of them were passive and pleasant, a good number were nothing short of jerks. You should realize that they know little about you and your situation and you should always try to keep it that way. Nothing you tell them can ever really help you and a few things you say can probably hurt you. You need to adopt a pretty strict policy of telling them nothing they don't know already. Remember, they act like they're trying to understand your situation and some pretend to be helpful. The reality is that they know almost nothing about you and anything they learn they'll use to pressure you in to doing what they want and not what you want. In my case, I told some of them our problems were due to large medical expenses but that's the limit of information I'd provide unless it was something they clearly knew in advance or could easily figure out. For example, I was asked several times to update my employment and salary information and I always refused. However, if they asked "are you currently employed?" I'd always tell them "yes."

One thing I am convinced of is that they use whatever tool works. If pressure and harrassement get you flustered and you start sharing information, they'll always try to press those buttons whenever they get you on the phone. One particular caller would get my wife on the phone and get her all wound up and I had to teach her to tell them "LOSE THE ADDITUDE because pissing me off will only make your job harder. There's ONE person who can help you and that's ME and pissing ME off is the wrong thing to do unless you like talking to yourself." and then hang up. Strange enough, the next call was completely different and they were nothing but sweetness and sushine whenever they called after that.

One thing they constantly ask is "What are your intentions regarding this account?" and a good answer is to tell them "Look, I've made a note of your name and phone number and I'll be happy to give you a call when I'm able to take care of the problem." Remember, they're constantly trying to get you to make promises and your job is to promise nothing. When they ask a question that traps you in to making a promise, don't be afraid to say things like "I don't understand" or "I just can't help you with that right now" or "I'll give you a call when I can help you with that."

When they ask "When can you make a payment on this account?" the answer is "I don't have funds available today." This makes them unhappy and almost always leads to "when WILL you have funds available?" Don't ever try to predict the future so you should never tell them what to expect tomorrow or next week. "I'll be happy to contact you when the situation changes" and if all else fails, "I don't know" always works but it always makes them grumpy.

At one point a law firm was contacting me and sent a "Notice of Intent to Sue." I wanted to do all I could to slow down the process so I sent a Debt Validation request to the attorney. My goal was to send the message that I was actively managing my situation and they shouldn't count on a default judgement if they sued. To my suprise they never responded and never contacted me ever again! I ended up sending out a half dozen or so of the Debt Validation letters at different times to the collection agencies that were the biggest pains in the butt. Since the credit cards had stopped sending statements, I sincerely wanted to know how they figured what I owed them. To my suprise, the collection activity stopped on all of those accounts and only one responded with an envelope full of a year's worth of statements. After three or four months the account would get sent to another collection agency and it would start all over again.