[privacy] ID Theft Tech: Credit Monitoring Services Ineffective?

[Brian Loe]

On 12/12/06, Hall, Rand <rand at merrimack.edu> wrote:

> An obvious mitigation strategy is to not be dependent upon your FICO
> score. If you pay cash (i.e. live within your means) you don't need to
> pay much attention to your FICO score. You can take time cleaning up a
> theft because your financial life isn't tied to it.

Absolutely!!

Having been down the road of easy credit and a long-term lay-off I can
not stress how important that statement is. Now, is cash only baby. I
have a house payment and utility bills and that's it, unless I want to
pull some cash out of savings for a big purchase. And frankly,
explaining to my kids why some of their friends appear to get anything
they want at the drop of the hat and they don't wasn't so difficult.
In fact, I think they appreciate the fact that when we buy something
its ours from the start. :)

I will say this though, I'm hoping my credit is fully recovered in
about three years when I go to refinance our mortgage. You do have to
care somewhat about your credit score but, as you say, if you're
living on cash to begin with you can at least take the time for a
recovery.