Before my dad died he was in credit card debt he really couldn't afford. He called his BiL who is a lawyer and asked him what he should do. The advice was "don't pay anything. You're credit will go to shit but you'll never pay them."
Apparently it's too costly for debt collectors to ever sue you so you'll just get letters about it. Also most of them will just cancel your debt after a certain number of years apparently.
Not saying this is good advice but hey
I don't want this man's life, I want his sandwiches.