Well, maybe I could have done worse .. SInce I started working in my son-in-law's automotive shop, among everything else , I pay all the bills, including the house bills. Needless to say, he lives in a "credit jungle" and has waay too many bills. One bill attracted my attention; it was for a "Rent to Own" scam ( you probably have one in your town too!). Anyways, I see the bill, balance is a little under 3000.00 and the regular payment is 350.00(@month). So I'm thinking, "this bill will get paid off in months!", something to look foward to. Out of curiosity, while I was direct-bank paying paying them (yeesss, even more charges for the direct pay service!), I asked when was the final payment. "About two years", he said. Now, I'm no great mathematician or accountant, but I do carry a Dollar General calculator that does my math
. 24 x 350 = 8400.00!
This is sort of like Dell, only I guess Dell is worse because you would never finish paying them, and eventually, after years of slaving to pay them, you could loose your job, get sick, or just flat-assed get pissed and not pay. Then they will ruin your credit rating too.
But credit? really not that important, if they decine your credit request, you should thank them because they just did you a great favor. But people like "Rent to Own", deny no one credit- they get whatever they can off you, then when you miss a payment, the "Rent to Own" truck pulls up in your front yard and totes off whatever it was you thought was yours