Have you ever known someone who just seemed to be lucky in everything they did? You know the type: always in the right place at the right time, getting the best deals and generally managing to stay one step ahead of the game.
I knew someone like this once. After several years passed, I finally asked him what his secret was. Do you know what he told me?
“I make my own luck.”
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I’d like to show you how you can make your own luck when it comes to your credit.
This quick and easy guide is intended to remind you that having good credit is no accident. It takes a lot of diligence and hard work to maintain a great credit score throughout life’s ups and downs. So here goes…
1. Think green.
What I mean by this is to think in terms of your actual hard-earned dollars when it comes to making a purchase.
These days, it’s so easy to pull out the plastic and swipe it for every little thing we buy. Even fast food restaurants and coffee shops make it easy for us to pay with our cards.
The result is we end up buying things we don’t need and going into debt.
Instead, try using only cash for a while. You’ll probably find you spend less and have more left over at the end of the week. Now that’s lucky!
2. Avoid the pot of gold.
Some people get into credit trouble by taking on debt and thinking they’ll be able to pay it off later. You know “When I get that raise” or “When my bonus check arrives.”
But we all know what happens – the debt just keeps growing and the pot of gold never shows up.
Don’t take chances with your credit while waiting for the pot of gold. Going into debt with the hope you’ll be able to pay it off sometime in the future is never a good idea.
“A good credit score will lead
to benefits down the road.”
3. Take a lesson from St. Patrick.
As most of us have come to know, St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. As it turns out, he wasn’t actually Irish, but he spent 30 years of his life there committed to his beliefs even in adverse conditions.
The lesson is if we stay focused on our goals even during tough times, we’ll be successful. By committing to living within our means and not going into debt, our credit score and financial life will be better off for it.
4. Have fun.
As the Irish and Irish-at-heart know, having fun is an important part of life. We should all remember to reward ourselves from time to time for our hard work and diligence in keeping our credit in good shape.
Make sure a certain portion of your budget is set aside for those little rewards that make life worthwhile.
So as we don our green for St. Patrick’s Day festivities, remember the luck o’ the Irish may be with us on this day – but we make our own luck the rest of the year.
Having good credit takes some work and occasional sacrifice, but it’s worth it. A good credit score and credit report will lead to benefits far down the road.
And if you do it right, people will be asking, “Wow, why are you always so lucky?”
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