You Hate Me Because I Have Good Credit

Hate Good Credit

My friend “Julie” gave me a pep talk for BadCredit.org readers. Here’s what she said:

I know you hate me. I have good credit, great credit, almost perfect credit.

You have bad credit. That’s why you’re visiting this fantastic website.

But it doesn’t make you a bad person.

It just means you haven’t taken care of your credit – probably for years.

Maybe you don’t understand how the game works. Because it is a game, and you’d better learn the rules.

Maybe you do know how to manage your credit, but you fell on hard times – job loss, unexpected expenses, medical costs.

No matter how bad, subpar, subprime or ugly your credit is right now, it can only get better.

Well, it could get worse but you’d have to keep doing the same wrong stuff. Sort of like that definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

There’s no quick fix. 

I didn’t get a FICO score of more than 800 overnight.

I spent years making all the right moves, never missing a payment, keeping my account balances well below the credit limits, not going credit-crazy and applying for too many new cards, paying my bills on time, paying my bills on time, paying my bills on time. See a pattern here?

But I can’t rest on my laurels or get too cocky. I’ve run the simulator. One late payment – just one – could tank my sterling credit score.

“Remind yourself that you

are not a bad person.”

So I keep plodding along each month, making sure all those bills get paid promptly.

My regular monthly bills like mortgage and insurance are deducted automatically from my checking account.

For credit cards, I use the (almost) full-proof method of paying the minimum amount due on the day the bill arrives. Then I pay the balance in full a few days before the actual due date.

I make two payments during the same billing cycle to make absolutely sure I don’t pay late. (Some people think I’m a bit obsessive.)

One time I made the minimum payment and then completely spaced out and forgot to pay the balance later that month. When I got the bill, I panicked.

Fortunately, it didn’t create a blotch on my credit reports because I had made a payment before the due date. It’s a good system.

You can improve your credit.

You just have to work at it. This website is chock full of great articles with advice on what to do.

Remind yourself that you are not a bad person. You just have bad credit.

Starting today, you can stop hating Julie and get on the road to make your own credit better!

Photo source: highpro.wordpress.com.

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