Last week my husband and I reached our next milestone in our effort to have a ZERO credit score:
We paid off our final, last ever credit card.
We will never take another card or loan outside of a mortgage.
If you were taught to live your financial life like we were, you were taught that you "need" a good credit score to succeed in life; you "can't" get a car loan, or an apartment, or a mortgage without a good credit score. And one time in our lives, we thought that way too.
If you were taught to live your financial life like we were, you were taught that you "need" a good credit score to succeed in life; you "can't" get a car loan, or an apartment, or a mortgage without a good credit score. And one time in our lives, we thought that way too.
And then we found a really great financial educator that turned all of what we were taught upside down. And what he said makes sense. Have you ever heard the expression
"Follow the money trail"?
When we really looked at it closely, there were a few points that stuck out to us:
- the number one factor in a good credit score is how often you use your credit (and pay it back with interest)
- the number two factor is how long you've had credit
- the number three factor is what type of credit you've had
The group that most readily gains from the nation's dependence on credit are those charging the interest.
Why would they want us to learn how to function in life without that very thing that keeps you poor and makes them more???
So we started working hard to pay it down and pay it off. All of it. Every penny. And, lean in closely now because here is our secret for you:
It's working
As we have paid more off, it has gone faster - it's called the Debt Snowball.
And we have done this in spite of setbacks like $$$$ in car repairs, home repairs, losing part of our income when my husband got an eye infection that left him blind in both eyes...
Want to learn more? Keep watching this blog. Want to DO more? Join our next Financial Peace University class - It is being coordinated and led by me, and taught (virtually) by Dave Ramsey.
