living without credit

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-10-2008
living without credit
6
Fri, 06-20-2008 - 12:06pm

Okay so I have a question…obviously many of you are Dave Ramsey fans or some other type of financial advisor fans…


I can honestly say I will never have another credit card again and will do everything in my power to save up for things I want or not buy them. (I don’t have any for one and heavens knows my credit score is horrible)


So do you think you can really make it through life without having a credit history? I mean after I pay off all my debt and I want to buy my dream house since that is the only bill I will have how will the mortgage company look at that? Can they just base it off of my current mortgage history? What about jobs don’t they also look at your credit history?


So I’m curious what do you think, do you think we really don’t need a FICO/CREDIT score???


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-17-2003
Fri, 06-20-2008 - 1:05pm
Your mortgage history IS credit history.

Avatar for mahopac
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-24-1997
Fri, 06-20-2008 - 1:07pm

I think it's a natural response, but not realistic. Unless you have a serious spending *addiction* - as opposed to you hid your head in the sand for a while about how you were misusing credit - there's no reason to think you can't learn to use a credit card only when you need it. Overeaters can learn to eat reasonably, some people who binge drink can learn to drink responsibly, and many debtors can learn to buy things on credit when they need to, to make the transaction easier and avoid carrying wads of cash around.

I pay for many of my expenses by Amex, but they are planned for. Presents, clothing, travel, gifts, household items, furniture, gas, and other things go on Amex. (For the rare place that won't take Amex, I keep one Visa card which is also paid for every month.) Every month my Amex bill makes me swoon, but I can pay it because it's part of my budget. I never use Amex or Visa for impulse purchases, but I always have both cards with me in case I need them.

I dunno, once I fully comprehended what my financial situation was, I just had the desire to get out of it and not get back into it. I stopped buying things because I wanted them and bought them only because I needed them, and I did that for a few years. Once I was out of the habit of impulse purchasing (which can be a problem with cash, too), I just didn't have a problem with credit cards anymore. I realize that people have different reasons for credit card debt, so this might be different for other people.

Kelly

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-23-2007
Fri, 06-20-2008 - 2:04pm

It seems to me that once you pay off your debt, your credit score will improve and you'll get a better rate on your mortgage. Beyond that, who needs additional credit? Just pay your mortgage on time every month.


JMO.


Dee


iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2007
Fri, 06-20-2008 - 4:35pm

My credit cards are my treasure I keep them all in a little wooden box I treat them as such. But I am not afraid if I must to use them.


Several years back I had 10 days to get out of my house. I tried to rent an apartment or a house for a year and I could not get either because I had a dog.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2006
Fri, 06-20-2008 - 6:32pm

I choose to keep my credit cards and I use them for convenience sake.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-02-2003
Sat, 06-21-2008 - 2:43am

I'm a huge Dave Ramsey fan and in February we will be debt free except for our home. In the past year we have paid off our $28,000 American Express bill. I can't believe we did it. Last Friday was our last payment to them.

The only problem I have with Dave is ditching credit cards altogether. We live on the Gulf Coast outside of Houston and I just renewed our homeowners and windstorm policies at the end of April. Hurricane Katrina changed the way insurance is done in coastal areas. It has left us with only have two options for insurance: the government and Lloyd's of London. The government policies are 20% of what the Lloyd's of London policy would cost, but my agent advised me the government does look at your FICO score. Our house won't be paid off until sometime in 2010, so I won't really worry about this until then.

Our coastline is being redeveloped and if it happens before we pay our mortgage off, we'll sell for a fortune and move. If that doesn't happen by then, I'm considering floating something at Home Depot or Lowe's for 12-months no interest just to keep some sort of current credit history going.

If we weren't on the coast, I'd have no problems ditching credit cards altogether.