Pay cash as much as possible, and you can tell them to stick their credit score where the sun don't shine. Just one more shackle the financial institutions want to have over all the 'good little consumers' out there....
Using credit to your advantage is a smart way to financial freedom.
You’re not financially free, if you are in debt, which is what a credit score is a measure of. If you owe money to others, that is money that you can’t use to buy assets.
Several years ago, I bought a new Ram, 0% for 5 years. Why use my money if I can use their money for free?
We just bought $5k worth of new furniture. I got 12 months at 0%. I had the money to pay cash, but why use my money if I can use their money for free?
I have the cash to pay off my house, but my mortgage is at 3.25%. I make quite a bit more than 3.25% by investing the money I would otherwise use to pay off my house. If I ever need to do so, I can pull that cash out and pay off the house with one check. This is the only debt we usually have, though now I have the furniture mentioned above.
I make lots of $$$ in cash back on my primary credit card, and we get 5% off at Target with our Target card. Pay them off every month, like clockwork. Haven't paid a dime in interest in close to 25 years, and we put just about everything on our cards.
Paying cash for everything is a great thing if that's what someone wants to do.
For whatever reason, a lot of the "cash only" folks seem to lack a basic understanding of how responsible use of credit really works.
Our credit scores are both in the 820s, and as Mr T pointed out, credit scores can directly impact things like your insurance premiums. They also impact your ability to borrow, and how much it costs you to do so, should an emergency arise that requires you to do so. The latter is not a reason to have debt, by itself, but it is a reason to consider trying to have a good credit score.
