I have excellent credit mainly because I charge virtually every purchase and have it auto-paid monthly. Running every tank of gas and bag of groceries through Discover seems to help more than if I paid cash. A friend with responsible spending but poor credit took my advice to do the same thing and she was shocked at how quickly her score shot up. It helped her with a mortgage.
I sold my house this summer and parked the proceeds while I shop for what comes next and my credit score dropped 25 points because I don’t have any debt now
Absolutely infuriating. And it's so confusing for a lot of people, because no one explains this stuff. We're just told to be "responsible" with money and debt and it'll pay off. It needs to be part of financial education that what we *actually* have to do is play the creditors' game.
Very well said! This is why cash flow underwriting -- where a lender uses someone's total cash flow as a consideration in assessing their financial responsibility -- is so important. Very few financial institutions do it, but those that do are using a far more equitable system.
This is such a powerful reflection — and brutally honest. You nailed what most financial institutions never admit: a credit score doesn’t measure responsibility, it measures access. The system rewards liquidity, not discipline, which means financial “worthiness” is often just a mirror of privilege.
But here’s the uncomfortable question — if the credit system favors wealth over responsibility, are we really measuring risk… or just reinforcing inequality under the guise of financial objectivity?
I literally was thinking about this yesterday and was thinking how cool it would be to create an app that would game-ify how FICO works for teens and twenty somethings.
Because there are definitely ways to manipulate the system which doesn’t make sense.
Also, there is a service that people can use now to make your timely rent payments show up on the credit report BUT surprise, surprise there is a monthly fee. More gouging the poor at every turn. Late stage capitalism is the worst and those people who uphold the system are greedy billionaires who don’t even need the money.
Yes, to the rent reporting – it's a step in the right direction, but it requires not only a monthly fee but also for your landlord to participate. Not great for anyone who rents from an individual and not a private equity company.
I would LOVE to see a credit score game! Something like Spent (https://playspent.org/), but for people to see how various money moves (and difficult financial decisions) might effect a score.
I have excellent credit mainly because I charge virtually every purchase and have it auto-paid monthly. Running every tank of gas and bag of groceries through Discover seems to help more than if I paid cash. A friend with responsible spending but poor credit took my advice to do the same thing and she was shocked at how quickly her score shot up. It helped her with a mortgage.
This is all a silly game they make us play.
I hate this game, but you're 100% correct! Glad you were able to help your friend with this advice.
I sold my house this summer and parked the proceeds while I shop for what comes next and my credit score dropped 25 points because I don’t have any debt now
Absolutely infuriating. And it's so confusing for a lot of people, because no one explains this stuff. We're just told to be "responsible" with money and debt and it'll pay off. It needs to be part of financial education that what we *actually* have to do is play the creditors' game.
Very well said! This is why cash flow underwriting -- where a lender uses someone's total cash flow as a consideration in assessing their financial responsibility -- is so important. Very few financial institutions do it, but those that do are using a far more equitable system.
This is such a powerful reflection — and brutally honest. You nailed what most financial institutions never admit: a credit score doesn’t measure responsibility, it measures access. The system rewards liquidity, not discipline, which means financial “worthiness” is often just a mirror of privilege.
But here’s the uncomfortable question — if the credit system favors wealth over responsibility, are we really measuring risk… or just reinforcing inequality under the guise of financial objectivity?
100% reinforcing inequality
I literally was thinking about this yesterday and was thinking how cool it would be to create an app that would game-ify how FICO works for teens and twenty somethings.
Because there are definitely ways to manipulate the system which doesn’t make sense.
Also, there is a service that people can use now to make your timely rent payments show up on the credit report BUT surprise, surprise there is a monthly fee. More gouging the poor at every turn. Late stage capitalism is the worst and those people who uphold the system are greedy billionaires who don’t even need the money.
Yes, to the rent reporting – it's a step in the right direction, but it requires not only a monthly fee but also for your landlord to participate. Not great for anyone who rents from an individual and not a private equity company.
I would LOVE to see a credit score game! Something like Spent (https://playspent.org/), but for people to see how various money moves (and difficult financial decisions) might effect a score.