Credit, Credit, Credit

Let's get serious for a moment! Today, I want to talk a little about credit scores. Does anyone else find credit scores absolutely annoying? Isn't it just plain ridiculous that almost everything is based off of your credit? It's like, you can be a good person, pay all of your bills on time, and still not have good credit- only because at one point you experienced a rough time. 

Now, let's get a little personal, shall we? A year and a half ago, I had a GREAT credit score. A 750 in fact. Actually, I was very proud of this score- at 22 years old I felt like this high of a score was some sort of accomplishment. Enter a whirlwind of unforeseen obstacles that would come our way. Obstacles such as hospital stays, totaled cars, more hospital bills, cars blowing up, snake bites, and the list goes on and on and on... Now, I know it's not an excuse but while Gabe was in the hospital for those 2 months our credit card bills were the furthest thing from our mind. I know, I know... some of you are probably sitting there right now saying to yourself... "Oh my goodness, are you crazy?" and then some of you are probably sitting there thinking "yeah, I would have done the same thing." But still, regardless of any thoughts or opinions, I can tell you that this was the worst move we have ever made. 

So since then, it has been a constant battle of getting caught up and raising our credit scores. I'm happy to report that we are on our way to having good credit scores again. I was thrilled when I looked at my credit score tonight and found that it was 150 points higher than I thought it was. WHOA! 

I know it's going to be a very long process to get both of our scores to that "Perfect" level that we'd like to be at. But hey, at least we're taking the steps to get well on our way. Our first steps have been to cut back on our spending and setting up a weekly budget. I write down all of the bills that are due each week and each month. We have a BIG calendar hanging on our fridge along with our budget plan for the week. That way, we both know what we have to pay and what we can spend for the week. Once we spend our allotted amount of "spending" money, we don't spend any more. I must say, for me, this was hard...because we all know how much I LOVE to shop. But, it's like Dave Ramsey says, "If you can live like no one else, later you can live like no one else." So, that's what we are trying to do. I won't lie, it hasn't been an easy transition and we struggle all the time with this. But I keep reminding myself that this will be worth it in the end. We have also started tithing to our church each week. We don't tithe 10% right now but we do what we can. I'm a strong believer in the fact that if you tithe to the church then you will be blessed. Though I know that these are only small steps that we have taken- I feel like they are steps in the right direction. 

So, my dear friends, I invite you along on this wild ride of credit scores. My goal is to have our credit scores in the "good" range within 6 months and the "great" range within 1 year. Let's see how this goes...