Q:

22 year old with about $3300 in collections, should I pay it all at once or in payments to improve credit score?

I have got about about $3300 in collection.
$1400 is from getting evicted about
$400 is from a time I over drafted a checking account
and the rest is medical bills. 
Now I also have a auto loan for about $5000 with my Dad as co-signer.
I have made every payment on time for a year. 
I then refinanced it back to $5000 at the beginning of this year on my name as I wanted to establish credit history on my own.
However the payment history from when my dad was on the loan is no longer there.
It seems like this has hurt my score but I don't know why. 
Now my question is what should I do to get my credit back on track?  
Should I Pay all my debt as a lump sum and clear it all out?
I should be able to do so at the beginning of next year.
OR should I set up payments and pay them down over time? 
Which way would help maximum rebound of my credit back?

A:

Your biggest problem is not that your credit score is dropping. The biggest problem is that you have $3,000 in collections. You need to get that settled as soon as possible. You need to find additional income, or a way to cut expenses so you can get those debts paid off. 
Postponing payments until next year, for example when you get your tax refund, is not helping your situation. Starting now will get you out of debt sooner. The fact that you had a debt go to collections will have a negative impact on your score; still having a debt in collections will be even worse. 

