tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33624471.post-33623125322799281032008-04-14T06:23:00.001-04:002008-04-14T06:33:56.170-04:00Good credit is a good thing isn't it? I'm not so sure.<br /><br />We've never made a lot of money, yet we have been offered a lot of credit. Foolishly we have taken advantage of many of those offers. Somehow we've managed to keep up with payments through the ups and downs of our income. Now here we are with a modest income, loads of debt, and somehow, an excellent credit rating.<br /><br />We should be happy about that, shouldn't we?<br /><br />Our good credit feels more like a curse.<br /><br />What good has our good credit done us? It allowed us to buy a house which seemed like a good investment at the time, without a down payment. It did serve us well while we lived there, but our situation, not to mention the housing market, has changed. That good investment is a burden on our finances and time.<br /><br />With our good credit we have purchased cars, fixed cars, taken vacations, purchased groceries in tight times, paid for unexpected expenses, gone out to eat way too often, and overall lived well beyond our means for the majority of the last thirteen years. Now we pay $100's of dollars in interest to our creditors every month. Money I'd much rather see go to our <a href="http://www.wamu.com/personal/savings_account/online_savings_account/default.asp">savings account</a> Yeah, good credit is a wonderful thing.<br /><br />Though we are neck high in debt, though our income qualifies us for some social services, though I have no desire to borrow any money, creditors are still trying to woo us. Credit offers come almost daily in the mail. Credit limit increases, initiated by the credit card company are a normal thing. The latest credit card limit increase put our credit limit at 70% of our annual income; on one credit card! I'm scared to add up all the available credit we have. It must be triple our annual income. Something isn't right here.<br /><br />I have no intention of taking advantage of their temptations. Though at this point I really don't care much about my credit rating, I have no intention of losing that rating either. We will continue to pay our bills on time, and therefore continue to have a good credit rating.<br /><br />In the past we have fallen to the lure of instant gratification. We are paying a pretty price for it now, and have learned our lesson. The curse of our good credit, the temptation to use that credit is no longer there. It is just ridiculous that a family in our situation can be offered such an excessive amount of credit. I thought the nation was in a credit crunch?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/33624471-3362312532279928103?l=www.stoptheride.net'/></div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07411714132368771649makeitfromscratch@yahoo.com9