Posted On: October 31, 2006, 10:21 am CST

Posted By: Ray

Good credit doesn't have to do with who is willing to give a job - it has to do with personal responsibility. I am one of those poor folks who spent 23 years in the US military and after all that I have good credit. I learned, later in life, is that it isn't how much you have it is how you handle what you have. Good credit is the sign of a responsible person, not an indication of your wealth. There are doctors and lawyers out there who default on loans (especially college loans) and those items on a credit report don't add up to a great score. But paying your bills on time and not overextending your credit do get good scores.

Granted, there are folks who get hit with unexpected major medical bills and other catastrophes, but there is no way you will ever convince me that the folks with bad credit all have that excuse. I know enough of the folks with bad credit to know that spending more than you make, insisting on the big screen TV and being on food stamps all make for low credit scores.