not have gotten my job.”
Increased buying and saving power. “Having good credit allows you more purchasing power; it makes for a much better lifestyle. But it also allows you to save real dollars and real cents,” says Rick Knight, author of Black & Green: What Black Folks Should Really Know about Financial Planning (Rick Knight; $14.95). What’s more, a high credit score equals better interest rates on big-ticket items like a home or car. “When you can go in and reduce your mortgage from, say, $1,000 to $650, that’s real money, which you can put to work for you.”