Comments on: 15 Reasons Why You Should Ignore Your FICO Score

By: Hmmm...

Hmmm... — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:40:09 +0000

Well that’s some pretty witty banter and sarcasm there guy. I in fact do ignore my credit score, could care less what the big three to say about me since I pay cash for everything except my mortgage. Including cars.

If more people in America took REAL responsibility and paid for all their much “needed” material possessions in full at the time of purchase then the wonderful megabanks would dissolve and we could have a stable economy again. That’s right Neocon’s, I said the fee laden, suck America dry banks need to go for our economy to stabilize.

Let me guess Mr. Personal Finance blog genius, you’ve run the math and fall into the category of Republican Ass Clowns who tout the need for “more lending” as the way jobs will be created and the economy will get back on track. Ha. I’d laugh at you more but your ideology is too dangerous to be comical.

Watch out for your FICO score folks and put on the bank shackles, borrow some more money and struggle to pay it back. When the banks are collecting mass interest off everyone again utopia will reign upon us. Or, you could just trying living within your means instead of making sure bank profits increase annually to insure big bonuses on Wall Street and huge rewards for wealthy bank investors.

Your sarcastic little article was only partially correct in title. Everyone should ignore their FICO score, leave their “Republican” bank and join a Democratic credit union. Now there’s some “personal finance” advice that was worth the time to type.

By: BidD

BidD — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:33:39 +0000

Agree with first comment, your credit score should matter very little, concentrate on spending less than you make. Materialism’s lust is short-lived, be happy with what you have, substance and covering, as you gain wisdom you will realize how silly it is to chase voids.

By: Tony @ This Young Economist

Tony @ This Young Economist — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:20:45 +0000

I love it.

Humor gets me everytime: I accepted your article to the Carnival of Economic Fun #2. It will appear on Wednesday, September 16th, alongside other fun economics articles.

Thanks for submitting.

By: Lee

Lee — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:30:32 +0000

I ignored my credit rating for the first 8 years of my ‘adult’ life. I’ve never once been refused credit. So you can ignore it to a degree without any incident… but I do now subscribe to keep an eye on it more for checking fraud than anything else!

By: DDFD @ DivorcedDadFrugalDad

DDFD @ DivorcedDadFrugalDad — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:17:14 +0000

Funny.

People need to focus more on this number– it impacts everything! Jobs, insurance, as well as credit.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:02:32 +0000

Although I can’t guarantee that there’s some guy out there that will be able to cut your credit in half (if anything, he/she can always pay it off for you even though it’s unlikely), I’m very skeptical of any debt consolidation companies that promises to be able to do anything for you. As all your debts are concentrated in credit cards, I’m even more doubtful that anyone can negotiate their way out of paying less money for you. Interest maybe, but definitely not the amount you already owe. So as a general rule, I will not recommend a debt consolidation company, especially since they want to charge you for their service.

However, it doesn’t hurt to talk to them and IF they offer free consultation, you might want to see if you can get any ideas off of them. Just be careful that you won’t be on the hook for some type of charge and make it clear to them that you are here for a NO COMMITMENT type of free consultation (if they offer one).

Unfortunately, without any collateral, it will be hard to get another lower interest rate loan to cover these credit cards so the best thing is to be responsible and try to pay them off ASAP. There will be sacrifices, but it will be worth it when you pay off all your debt!

By: Sara Berman

Sara Berman — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:57:36 +0000

MoneyNing, I read with interest your comments. I have a couple of my own, and a question. There are some of us out here who are not “ignoring” our debts, but have been hit by a devastating situation. In my case, a horrendous divorce, disabilities meaning I have limited income (Social Security and low alimony), and lawyer’s fees plus much more in problems caused me to have no option but to run up credit cards. I could not get the money anywhere else, no family to turn to, etc. Now, I owe about $20K (down from about $34K a year ago on a VERY limited income), and my FICO score is STILL in the high 700’s, though my ratio is not good. I made one late payment thinking my ex had paid it (he thought I did) and for several months, my FICO fell. I now no longer get offers of 0% intro rates, which I’d been using to shuffle debt around, nor can I get ANY credit cards because I got “too many” in the last year (I got TWO!). Also unfortunately, I’m about to lose my 0% interest-rate on one card in 2 months, another in 5 months (right now, all are 0%). Then, it’s really gonna hurt when I have to start paying interest. I didn’t carelessly use these cards, I had nowhere else to get money to live on, but I’m going to among those who will probably be paying off this debt for quite a while. Question: should I go with one of the debt “consolidators” who (at least by claim) get your credit owed cut “in half”? Or should I just carry on using every penny I can find to pay as much as possible on the 4 cards I owe money on? (I paid off 2 already, and one with a 27K credit limit cut my limit to 2K!!. Another I had not been using then lowered their limit from 10K to 1K. Why? I don’t know. As you might guess, I hate credit card companies, but I really didn’t have a choice.) Thanks if you have time to read and answer this.

By: RB @ Financial Samurai

RB @ Financial Samurai — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:48:36 +0000

Your FICO score is pointless, until it comes to getting a big fat mortgage. Then all hell breaks loose. Strive for 700+, or else you won’t get the best rates.

By: Sandy Anderson

Sandy Anderson — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:14:54 +0000

Well said! I think we can all go on with how those evil companies have no morals. They are all in it for the profits.

By: Mr. ToughMoneyLove

Mr. ToughMoneyLove — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:23:40 +0000

I don’t dispute anything that you’ve stated about how robotic “credit analysts” make instant credit decisions using the FICO score. But that doesn’t make it right or even more valuable to consumers. Making credit decisions “faster and more automatic” is a strategy designed to capture impulse spenders and keep them in the buying mood until the credit decision is made. If true credit due diligence and underwriting were used (as in the days before the FICO score), many consumers would have time to reflect on and reconsider the borrow and spend decisions that the sellers are trying to expedite. That would be good for consumers but bad for the credit industry. Thus, FICO was born, inflicted upon us, and slowly expanded to become an indicator of our personal worth as a potential employee or tenant. Sorry – I’m not playing along.