Ruin your credit – It's the new hotness
So, the economy sucks. Nobody has any money. People can’t hold on to their house, collection agencies are busier than they’ve ever been and you know what? I think it’s great.
Debt, buying what we can’t afford, borrowing money we can’t pay back, instant gratification, ultimately greed, has snowballed into a very catastrophic world economy. And what’s the best way to fix too much debt? By getting out of debt! And how do you prevent debt? By not borrowing! If we as a collective were not wise enough to only borrow what we needed, then it’s time to lose the privilege of borrowing by force: enter the bad credit score.
If having a crappy credit score prevents you from getting that department store card, or stops you from buying a boat you really shouldn’t buy, or getting a house 4x’s the size of what you need, then by all means, ruin your credit.
I’m attending Dave Ramsey’s ‘Financial Peace University’ right now and just covered Budget’s. Every time I’ve heard that word in my life the first thing I think of is ‘no more toys’. Which is a complete lie. At one point he talked about getting your budget in order, and then prioritizing your expenses. He said put Visa and Mastercard etc at the bottom, and if they fall “below the line” of what you can afford, then don’t pay them. He mentioned several people who were behind on their house but current on their Mastercard – all to protect a stupid score. He doesn’t hesitate to tell people to stop caring about their credit and start caring about freedom. Credit, inherently, is not freedom.
So, to those of us struggling with money and paying for things, take a deep think on that credit score you’re protecting and consider if it’s really important. If you have to give it some bad marks to get out of debt, then get out the red pen and start marking it. Once your out of debt and start building real equity in your life your score will heal itself, but hopefully you’ll be free enough to really not need it all that much.
4 Responses to Ruin your credit – It's the new hotness
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I think Miles have something different to say about that. He’s spent years making sure his credit score stays high, and I doubt he would do anything to damage it, even if it meant getting us out of debt sooner.
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It is true! I believe in both. Not being able to buy stuff because of a crappy credit score is great because a lot of people shouldn’t be buying stuff if their credit is bad. I have busted my @$$ to protect and even build my credit score to be able to have that “backup” but I do agree in getting out of debt asap.
Will I ever use my credit score? Most likely unless you want to buy me a house no strings attached.
Will I ever use my credit score to build a business or even buy some fun toys? Probably not. If i can’t save for it … I must not really want it that bad.
It is doubtful that I will ever use my college degree for future employment, however, it is nice to have it as back up in case i may need it. This is why I value the credit score, and even though I believe it to be a stupid value… It is still of value.
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Personally I think the new hotness will be buying homes with cash. I tell people I am planning on doing that (or at least 75% down) and they talk to me like I am crazy, but as a fellow Dave Ramsey follower, I think you might catch on better to what I am saying. You don’t need a good credit score if you pay for everything with cash. You don’t need financing to buy a home if financing will cost you up to three times the real value of the home. I hear people say it would take them 30 years to save up enough to buy a home (aka 30-year loan) and that is just baloney. With concentrated savings efforts and with no other debt to worry about, a person with average income living in modest conditions could easily save $200k in under 10 years. Sure they would have to sacrifice a lot, but do you really consider it a sacrifice when you realize that people pay almost $500k with interest for that house worth $200k? What did you have to sacrifice in order to finance your home when you could have just saved money and paid cash? People are so confused and messed up (I blame public schools) when it comes to spending habits. They seriously think right is wrong and wrong is right, and so many people in our generation are experiencing a rude awakening in realizing that buying property (and everything else you will ever want in your life) when you are just a kid in college as an “investment” is really not a great idea (just ask me, I could talk about that for days.
That’s an interesting outlook that I had never considered. I like it. Who needs good credit anyway??
Congratulations on getting engaged!!