I remember the days of myself when I paid for things.didnt have credit cards always paid for things on time..what was my reward my credit scoring was up the creek because of this way of thinking and to get a vehicle I needed to get financeand because I looked bad the finance cost me more..you cannot win.

I fell you on that. I am just starting out, I only have to keep my card to get money out of my BA...then it goes in a drawer.

Right now I have no money...and I didnt even get paid yet. Once I get paid...260 is comming off my check, and I had to sell some stuff to make rent and car insurance.

It sucks, but I like to look on the bright side of things as much as possible...this just might be the kick I need to get my shit back on track.

Good luck...to the both of us!

**Feel you..LOL.** I cant even afford a coffee :/

Credit cards suck, and a credit score is the biggest peice of crap invention to suck us all into consumerism and things we can't afford that I am pretty sure satan himself came up with it.
I'ts like santa clause.... it only matter if you beleive in it.

Cash, and barter, and checks. That's it.
Who needs a credit score? It's not a real thing. It's out there in la-la land and doesn't mean sh*t.
If you need a car, get one you can pay cash for, or ride your bike and save the cash.
have a lifestyle that will let you do that.

Or, get into credit card debt and build an up a credit score and some imaginary security that it can offer you.

I"m not into pretend games at this point.
Kudos to you for getting rid of the credit cards!

woops

I will have a credit score; I have a mortgage and student loan. Just don't need to carry a balance on credit cards. So I'm paying the off.

yes but scalet do you know if you close those accounts that they will lower your credit score? just an FYI....I read that online all the time...


but woot woot on being able to cut them up...I have done that a few times and started again with either restarting the same card asking for new cards or getting new credit cards entirely...

thing for me is with no savings I fear I cannot live with fear of not having a credit card for emergency use...yet I use credit with no emergency too...

I am working on paying off these CC debts now myself....
I have a huge student loan on deferrment now...when it gets to paying that puppy off I am in some serious outflows of cash monthly....money will then be tight as a tic....lets face it money is tight as a tic now....:(

Bill, I have cut off the cards, not closed the accts. I know to do so would reduce my available credit, increase my credit/debt ratio and have a negative effect on my credit score.

I was taught that if you have a mortgage and are paying on it, that is the only credit score you need.

Why do you need a credit score?
So you can get into more debt?
To show off?
Because you'd be less of a person?

I know these are nasty sounding questions but Dude! you already bought a house!
Ween yourself off the idea that MORE DEBT WILL SAVE YOU!

It's hard, but you can do it!

woops

Woops, there's a whole lot more to a good credit score than that. First, having good credit doesn't mean having debt. It means you manage your creditcards. You buy what you can AFFORD and you pay it off.

Credit is like alcohol I think for some people. Some people just can't manage it. Doesn't make them bad people or make credit a bad thing. They're just not a good mix.

A good credit score can yield you:
-Lower insurance rates
-Not having to pay deposits on things (utilities, etc)
-Employers can and often DO consider your credit score when deciding to hire you.

Scarlet, FWIW I really think you're on the right track. Even when your cards are paid off, you can keep them active and use VERY occasionally and on small purchases. You're doing great!

HAVING credit doesn't necessarily mean USING credit.

Need, you are exactly correct! Thank you for your comment. I found reply #8 very condescending. Having credit, credit cards, and a credit score mean incurring debt; it means managing finances.

Another reason for improving a credit score - financing a mortgage loan down to 3.25%. Sounds like a pretty darn good reason to me.

So that credit score that Woops states means nothing - a "peice of crap invention to suck us all into consumerism and things we can't afford" - could save me several thousand dollars annually. That would be nice to roll into retirement, wouldn't it??.

Having credit, credit cards, and a credit score DOESN 'T mean incurring debt; it means managing finances.

I think your on the right track...I am a like on this dealie your doing hugs bill

I have had to stick my cc in the safe and not let them out for a while myself...But it seems just as I get it paid off something else arises...New tires for my car will run about 1,081 which all my tires are about bare even one with a nail that is still stuck in it....My son got a 400.00 tkt in Las Vegas for his B-day so I had to help him out which he is paying back.
Sometimes it feels like just as you are out of debt something else always comes up..I am just keeping my cc..I spend wisely on it and it has helped my credit score tremendously..Yeh I hear alot of you screaming about the miles dont equate to much but I have managed to get 5 airline tkts and now have about 5 more I can get.. I hear you but the interest rate..Well I call every so often and complain about my interest how long I have been a customer and I want some free interest for a while and some miles....They usually throw me in a few mos free interest and about 5 thousand miles a yr..
Without having a cc, and a mortgage I dont think my credit score would be 820...Right now I am trying to figure how to rise above this economic crap this country is going through.. Perhaps with a decent income and great credit I should be out buying at least a rental property I could turn around and sell in 7 yrs when the market comes back up..Just a thought..
It doesnt matter what we think of Fico rating system..The fact of the matter it exists..Unless you can save every dime and actually do not ever have emergencies come up and can pay everything with cash hey my hats off to you..But for those of us with little 500 dollar hospital bills on occasion , 100 here too that does not get written off, I have to pay it sometimes that means breaking out that little peice of plastic that can be dangerous only if you let it...
Sometimes you also have to say the hell with it and take your kids to disneyland, or fly to Kauai for a while..It is called living..One thing I have learned lately is dont let memories that can be made be filled with regrets of not making them be just another death sentence in your life..In other words on your death bed Have no regrets that you didnt live life fully...Bills always get paid eventually if your a responsible individual...