"ACAI", very true! And to add to that, the less debt people have period, the more free this country will be. This country needs people to swing the pendulum in the other direction. Rather than most of society in serious financial debt, imagine a culture where it's spun the other way? People not under financial burden, living within their means that don't wake up most mornings married to a job they despise that pays half as much as it used to and is on the brink of being eliminated in the next 5 years anyway! We need more people to take "ownership" of their finances, rather than the corporate American thugs and their business partners, the U.S. Gov't owning them! That's the foundation of keeping freedom intact! We owe it to the generations to come and the generations past, who have sacrificed so much and entrusted this wonderful inheritance to us so we can do the right thing....

Less credit card debt for people, the more freedom for this country!~

CREDIT SCORE RANGE

http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/24/pf/credi...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_scor...

Not important to you? A few years back, the company I work for had to do a security check for a courier we used. It discovered that this young woman's SSN was being used by a man in Texas. He had also used her identity regarding credit, too.
-----
When it comes to paying for anything on a monthly/timely basis, either for cable TV, utilities, heating oil deliveries, etc., your ability to pay (so you don't have to pay in cash prior to service) is affected by others who steal your credit/identity.
----
Check with your credit card company. Mine allows me to get my score for free.
----
----
SUGGESTED IDEA: My credit card (and debit card/bank/cu accounts) let me set an email option so the account sends me a message when a charge is placed or a deposit is placed to the account. Handy when I have monthly payments for my storage locker, for my netflix, for my donations, etc. If something pops up in the email (texting), I'll know immediately. Free feature...take advantage of it.
----
INTERESTING: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-5...

375 is this good ?

Anytime a source other than yourself, is keeping a "score" on you, it's an immediate red flag! Especially when the reward for a higher score is requiring you to spend money that you don't have in the first place to make the credit card companies rich. @ westorbust; GREAT GOING! You should be proud to be in the minority in such a good way!

;-)

Why would I needs a credit score?
I don't borrows money.
People borrows money from me.

mgcarguy, I follow that same path, I did that my entire adult life had amazing credit, 810 as a matter of fact, and then I made a bad business decision which sunk me, and I lost everything, my credit went in the crapper, oh well, no big deal, with bad credit you can't get a loan or Credit cards and go into debt right? I don;t know my credit score now, and I don't care, I pay my bills on time and I put plenty of money into savings every month and carry no debt, I had to go through hell to get to this point but it was a lesson worth learning.

We don't know our credit score. My mother always told me to pay my bills on time and to keep good credit. I did and I have never had a problem. We have both a debit card and a credit card that we need for car rental and emergencies. Our credit union statement that I check daily on my computer tells me if we have a problem. I did have one when my credit card was stolen a couple of years ago. The credit union took care of it. It would have been nice if credit card companies would have checked creditors more carefully in the beginning and not issued credit to the millions who abused a good system. I can recall hundreds of letters over the years telling me that I have been approved for credit that I have never even applied for. In so many ways we have been led down the old garden path.

The "credit score" has always sounded to me like a corporate scam. A tool that can be used to extort money from people. If the terms are 30 days, a person should have 30 days to pay, and not have the price altered based on a bill they were late on or a dispute they had with a completely different business.

The other important reason to periodically check your credit report is to make sure you have not been a victim of identity theft. While you may not use credit someone may be running up credit card bills under your name and social security #. Whether you ever need a loan again or not, this can become a real nightmare.

Sigma, you wouldn't even know whether the insurance agency was doing it if you don't read every scrap of paper which comes with your bills. You don't sign anything agreeing to it. You pay your premium and remain a customer, and you have agreed to it.

Several years ago a place apparently put some bill in collections that we didn't even know was generated because, even though we gave them our new address, they sent the bill repeatedly to our old address. I could prove that we provided our new address because another department of the same place sent a bill that we had paid. I couldn't get anywhere with the collection agency, so I went through the credit bureau that showed this item and got it cleared after I proved that I paid the creditor directly after discussing with them and they cashed the check - of course, the collection agency didn't like that, but who cares.

For those people who have sworn off credit and pay cash (and don't have a mortgage) - your credit score is probably nowhere near as good as you would expect because you build your credit score by using credit responsibly, not by eschewing it all together. Now that we paid off our mortgage, I suspect (not having checked) that our credit score is less than it used to be when we last refinanced.

Sigma--true, however, just like anything that is paid on a monthly basis, they use it to determine your ability to pay. They use other monthly bills as a guide on if you pay your going to pay their bill regularly and on time. Most companies use this technique and most do not tell you. This is a state by state regulation. Some states do not allow them to look at all, others say what part they can use and others have no rules against it. Wisconsin insurance companies have no regulation against it, so they are going to use it.

wisconsinheat - I would never deal with an insurance company that judges people on their credid score.... it is totally irrelevant to anything insurance related.

And to the question of errors, don't even go down that road. Both my husband and I have VERY common names. We have to sign waivers everytime we apply for loans. Some errors slip onto the report, mostly bad checks (since no SS# is linked to them), but we have never had issue getting them off, but we have never done it through the agencys. We have only dealt with the company that actually put it on the report. It takes a little bit, usually until their next submission to the agencies. We have always had to do it in writing with several verifications that you are not the person that they are in need of, but we never seem to have an issue. We also then ask for written response from them, on letterhead, excusing the report and they seem to always send that and the banks usually accept that without issue.

Knowing your credit history and reports are crucial in managing your financial succuss. There are a lot of people out there that are mistaken that credit cards and loans ruin your credit, but it is just the opposite! You need to have some trail for them to actually give you a score based on that history. How you manage your loans and credit cards is what actually can ruin your credit score.

Some people may think their credit score is "irrelevant" but those same people probably don't realize that your credit score figures in to much more than just using credit.
Among other things, your credit score is also a determining factor in what you are charged for various insurance rates.

"Do you know your credit score?"

Yes.

I've always thought that you should be able to see your credit report and scores at any time, free of charge.
It is information about you and could help or hurt you.
It's kind of like not being able to see your medical records.

I used to, but since moving to a largely cash based lifestyle, having the cars paid off and moving towards a debt free life, I no longer care.

No more loans or credit cards for me.

This is one score that's irrelevent! Nothing I have now or ever will in the future will require having credit. It takes discipline, but it's a blessing!!!

60 Minutes also said that the credit report you get from these three is different than what a company will get. And to answer your question, yes I do.

Your credit score is becoming irrelavent. Did anyone see the 60 minutes segment on how many times the top 3 reporting agencies are wrong (I forget the exact %)? When we refinanced our house, they told us we had too many open accounts. I have 1 credit card and no other open accounts. That was one of the main errors of the reporting agencies, which lowers your score. We still got a very good rate because we have good credit. It is practically impossible to get errors corrected.
Disputes are sent to Chile and the people who review them have no e-mail availabilty or phone to communicate with the customer. They said disputes go into a black hole.

No and I dont care. For me its irrelevant to anything I do. I would imagine its good though.

I think it's 3 times a year, once from each of the 3 credit bureaus.

The only truly free and safe site to get your Credit report is: annualcreditreport.com
You can get your report there 4 times each year, once from each of the 4 credit bureau's. When you get your report, you can pay if you want(it is an option to get your credit score.

Greg, don't confuse your credit SCORE with your credit REPORT.
The free reports mandated by the government give all your credit data, but do not provide a numerical score.

Conventional wisdom is to get one free report every four months, on a rotating basis. You'll soon know if all your credit card info is accurate.
It's not just about getting loans, it's to keep an eye on your finances.

Of course.

My credit score is locked, blocked, and you can't get it. I can't even get it because I forgot the password!

Yes!