One day a Cleveland-area man walked into a Bass Pro Shop, and they offered him a credit card with a promotion that would pay the sales tax. The savings amounted to $50, so he accepted. A few weeks later, he received a letter in the mail informing him that his credit score was 848. Perfect score is 850.
1. Never charge something without having something to show for it.
I take that an extra step. I don’t like to spend money at all without having something to show for it, so generally I’m more likely to buy a $5 magazine than I am to eat lunch at a fast-food joint. I’ll learn something from the magazine. Lunch at a fast-food joint is mostly low-quality calories.
2. Never spend money without knowing when you can repay it.
I absolutely agree with that. If I can’t make a major purchase with cash, or with a credit card that I’ll repay at the end of the month, I don’t buy it until I have a plan for repaying it. And once you’ve gotten used to making plans, it doesn’t take long to make one. I had to have some very expensive dental work done a year ago and my insurance was only going to pay about 5% of the cost; I got second and third opinions of course. Once I knew the highest-price option was the only one that made any sense in the long term, I formulated a plan in my head for paying it back, then made my decision.
I got the work done without making any compromises to my long-term health, and without having to pay any interest on it. And I paid off the debt in May.
3. Pay your bills on time.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.