I never wanted this blog to be about anything negative or political, but this morning I feel so strongly about something I feel like I need to write about it.

I found out today that my credit score had been lowered. This is the fourth time in two years. It used to be 865 and now it is below 755. The reason, I learned, is because I don’t have any debt. Yes, you have that right. I have spent my life trying to live within my means, and even though I have a credit card, I pay it off every single month. No debt, nada, nothing. But the credit reporting companies don’t like that. According to them, no debt is BAD! They told me I need to establish more credit and have a revolving account where I am making payments.

First of all I don’t see where that benefits anyone except for the banks and credit card companies. If I make payments to them, I am paying interest for borrowing their money. I had to borrow plenty when I was younger and I am at a stage in my life where I don’t need to do that any more. The car is paid for, the house and I don’t have any other debt. What a great feeling that is!

Why should I pay a bank interest, so that the credit reporting companies can say I am a good paying citizen? Why can’t they determine that from the fact that I don’t have any outstanding debt, and my history has shown that the debt I once had, was paid “as agreed” and is now “paid in full.”

It seems to me there is a scam in here somewhere, that benefits the banks. Why would we want to penalize people for paying off their bills? Why must the credit reporting companies blackmail us into getting deeper in debt just to raise our credit rating back up? You see where I’m getting don’t you. Experian, TransUnion and Equifax have my credit history since I started working. They have record of every debt I took out and paid off. They know I have a good payment history. As I get older, why should I put myself into debt again so they can re-evaluate my credit worthiness?

This bad policy forces people to go into debt, instead of teaching everyone to live within their means. This is what the credit reporting agencies teach us, our children and grandchildren. This is what Washington teaches us when they don’t live within their means also.

Is this what our future holds; future generations in debt up to their eyeballs, so that three organizations can hold the power to determine if they are credit worthy or not. I would like to find out how much money is filtered back to these credit agencies from the banks. They always say, if you follow the money you will get your answers. I would like to follow the money trail on this one.

And because I disagree with this policy, I refuse to accrue any more debt to make the credit reporting agencies happy. No one is going to blackmail me into doing something that I feel is wrong. It is a lesson we should be teaching to our children, not the example that our politicians are setting. Three credit agencies should not be allowed to dirty our credit reports because we are responsible citizens living within our means. It’s wrong, morally and ethically. They should only be allowed to report on what your actual payment history is…..not what it isn’t!