4 ms·

>Credit reporting ... exist primarily to help lenders fuck the consumer out of money. You could always just not borrow money.

kefka 11y ago
There are areas in which a "loan" is granted without credit check. Cell phone bills, internet bills with cap charges, medical bills; just to name a few. They bill you later, and in the case of medical bills, you don't even have a clue what it will remotely be.
fizgig 11y ago
If it were only that simple. In a creep of scope, credit scores are now used to determine whether or not you can be trusted to rent a domicile, the size (if any) of a deposit for utilities, increase/lower rates of one's auto insurance, and even some employers now use credit rating as part of screening candidates. Even if you never borrow money, your credit scores impact your life.
- eplanit 11y ago
  And never borrowing money means no history of debt management which causes a lower credit score.
cookiecaper 11y ago
Sure, but this isn't a serious option for most people. Other commenters have pointed out that credit scores have gone beyond just borrowing money, so I won't address that aspect. Many people don't know how to make money as adults without borrowing money to go to university (and student loans are non-dischargeable debt), so as soon as you become an adult, before you can even enter the productive workforce, you're saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in debt and interest payments that'll follow most people around for decades. Culturally, people in the U.S. are pressured to buy a home as quickly as possible. If you're in your 30s and still renting people assume you don't know how to manage money. Renting and tenancy in most places in the U.S. is configured such that if you want stability, you need to "buy" (meaning, you need to pay rent to the bank instead of a landlord). If you want a decent car that doesn't break down constantly (which is a functional requirement in most places in the U.S.), one generally needs to borrow money to afford that, at least until he's well into his career and has the opportunity to redirect some student loan money into paying cash for a car. You have to borrow money on credit cards to get a decent credit score that'll make it so you're not immediately underwater in these fixed collateral-backed installment loans. While it is theoretically possible to go without borrowing much money, it's not practical for the majority of people. It was made that way on purpose, because banks like money. The system is structured so that the average American pays at least 2x the real cost of goods all the way through to retirement (pays once to the vendor/seller, and once or more in interest to the lender that financed the purchase). I personally find this disgusting and really hope we can see changes that make interest and borrowing truly and practically optional for average people in future generations.

kefka 11y ago

There are areas in which a "loan" is granted without credit check. Cell phone bills, internet bills with cap charges, medical bills; just to name a few. They bill you later, and in the case of medical bills, you don't even have a clue what it will remotely be.

fizgig 11y ago

If it were only that simple. In a creep of scope, credit scores are now used to determine whether or not you can be trusted to rent a domicile, the size (if any) of a deposit for utilities, increase/lower rates of one's auto insurance, and even some employers now use credit rating as part of screening candidates. Even if you never borrow money, your credit scores impact your life.

eplanit 11y ago
And never borrowing money means no history of debt management which causes a lower credit score.

cookiecaper 11y ago

Sure, but this isn't a serious option for most people. Other commenters have pointed out that credit scores have gone beyond just borrowing money, so I won't address that aspect. Many people don't know how to make money as adults without borrowing money to go to university (and student loans are non-dischargeable debt), so as soon as you become an adult, before you can even enter the productive workforce, you're saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in debt and interest payments that'll follow most people around for decades. Culturally, people in the U.S. are pressured to buy a home as quickly as possible. If you're in your 30s and still renting people assume you don't know how to manage money. Renting and tenancy in most places in the U.S. is configured such that if you want stability, you need to "buy" (meaning, you need to pay rent to the bank instead of a landlord). If you want a decent car that doesn't break down constantly (which is a functional requirement in most places in the U.S.), one generally needs to borrow money to afford that, at least until he's well into his career and has the opportunity to redirect some student loan money into paying cash for a car. You have to borrow money on credit cards to get a decent credit score that'll make it so you're not immediately underwater in these fixed collateral-backed installment loans. While it is theoretically possible to go without borrowing much money, it's not practical for the majority of people. It was made that way on purpose, because banks like money. The system is structured so that the average American pays at least 2x the real cost of goods all the way through to retirement (pays once to the vendor/seller, and once or more in interest to the lender that financed the purchase). I personally find this disgusting and really hope we can see changes that make interest and borrowing truly and practically optional for average people in future generations.