10 Ways to Completely Ruin Your Credit

This post is inspired by one of my readers, whom I will call Mr. M. This is not the usual improvement tips, so don’t follow these. If anything, please do the opposite. Here are 10 ways to completely ruin your credit score, waste a lot of money, and get yourself in trouble:

Respond to every pre-approved offer you can lay your hands on; especially those in-store cards
Buy everything you ever wanted with your credit
Pay your bills late
Don’t pay your bills if you can’t afford it
Let your accounts go to collection
Don’t pay your landlord
Don’t pay your taxes — who cares about tax lien
Use your bills as firewood when they turned off your electricity
Use payday loans as emergency fund
Declare bankruptcy

Are you doing any of these?

More about FICO Score:

What’s the Perfect Credit Score? @ Free Money Finance
8 Secret Credit Scores You Don’t Know About @ Consumerism Commentary
The Right Approach to Using Credit Cards @ My New Choice
Effect Of Credit Score On Mortgage Rates and Monthly Payments @ My Money Blog
Yet Another Reason to Value Your Credit Score @ Five Cent Nickel

This was a guest post I wrote for I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… on October 17, 2007.

9 Comments

Amanda @ Me vs Debt
January 18, 2008, 8:34

Great tips here! I was hoping to get below 600 as quickly as possible
Pinyo
January 18, 2008, 15:55

@Amanda – Thanks! If you need help, let’s take cash advances on your credit cards and go to Las Vegas. You’ll have a blast for a couple of days.
Tomiko
January 19, 2008, 2:45

Your ways funny yet good to reduce the unnecessary expenses. One can use the cash saved from these tips for a trip to las Vegas. One has to be very careful and these tips shows what can happen if the credit card use is out of control.
Great!
Tom
January 19, 2008, 12:59

Very funny
Minimum Wage
January 21, 2008, 14:21

I’m already below 600. Help, my credit has fallen and it can’t get up. (Anyone remember that commercial?) Since I have no open accounts, paying my bills on time doesn’t help my credit.
Pinyo
January 21, 2008, 19:52

“Help, my credit has fallen and it can’t get up.” — those were funny commercials.
Minimum Wage
January 22, 2008, 8:23

Don’t pay your bills if you can’t afford it
(scratching head) How do you pay your bills if you can’t afford to pay your bills? (This is precisely the problem I had several years ago when I was in hospital without income for several months.)
Mr. Stubbs
January 29, 2008, 16:26

lmao without income or savings = broke
Make Friends, Earn Money
February 1, 2008, 8:14

I’d also add to that number 11. Lose your job, no money, no credit rating.