A Magnificently Methodical Southern Woman
and The Most Brilliant Woman in the World
and The Most Brilliant Woman in the World
I once met a man from Texas
Buys everything with his cashes.
He has no debts.
Bills ne'er forgets.
Still his credit score was a-messes.
It's true. I know this man. He wanted to get married but the woman said she had to know his credit score. It was almost non-existent. He had always lived within his means. If he didn't have the money, he didn't buy. He'd save and scrimp until he could pay cash.
Sounded like a good plan. He was stress-free. Could pay attention to his woman. But she was freaking out. He had to have a credit score that registered, see.
So he went out and got an auto loan. But he paid it off too fast. Change in credit score? Nil.
By this time the woman was gone and then the loan company came after him saying that he wasn't allowed to pay it off ahead of time and instituted a bunch of early payment fees that equaled the interest he would've had to pay them. That fight lasted three years.
In any case, his credit score never got higher than about 350. He decided to live even further off the grid. Built him an underground house in the desert and that's the last I heard of him. I bet he's happy.
Why am I telling you this? Because my bank, Wells Fargo, is like a lot of banks these days. Trying to be helpful, they are now offering my credit score through my online banking; free of charge. Here is my FICO [Fair Isaac Corporation] score. Now, you're probably noticing the big eight-two-zero in the middle and you're thinking, "Hey, Angela. That ain't bad at all."
Now, see the little black dot in the green area? It does not go all the way to the peak of the green. Why not?
Because of this language below:
Right about now I feel like the man from Texas. I've always paid off my credit card balances every month. I do not have a mortgage and I own my condo outright. I do not have a car loan as Baby Doll has been paid off since she was five years old and she turned five in 2007.
So, here I am with one of the almost highest credit scores in the world and I am still being dinged because I do not have any loan history and I don't have any aging balances.
If I were a cussing woman I'd be saying "Jesus H. Christ!" But I'm not a cussing woman. Okay, I'm lying. I cuss, but I never say Jesus H. Christ.
All this to say that in the credit reporting world, it doesn't matter what you do because you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. The financial system is designed to keep you enslaved.
If I lived near a desert, I'd be hunkered down living off the grid, too.
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