iamkaricfuller.com

In your 20s, you continue to think you are invincible, just as you did in high school. Nothing can stop you, and anything and everything is possible. Here are some random things I wish I’d known back then. Way back then…

1. Credit Rules Your Life
   • When you are young, you don’t understand and can’t really even grasp the concept that your credit score literally determines the kind of life you will lead. It makes things possible, and even more things impossible. They don’t teach you this in school. Well, actually, they probably do now, but back in the 90s when I was in school, you were Einstein when it came to the theory of relativity, but when it came to spending habits and budgeting your money, you were stumped. Why didn’t anybody tell us that an exceptional credit score was so important? What, when, and where you spend your money counts! It is all consequential. For example, while I was in college, the walkways around campus were filled with credit card companies trying to get you to apply for their cards. You’d get a free T-shirt if you did. You didn’t need a job to get one, which was a major selling point. But the fact that each time you applied for one of them, your credit score was lowered was never mentioned. In fact, applying for more than two cards a year could be problematic. But hey, I had a lot of new T-shirts to sleep in!