I don't intend to ever borrow again, so I don't particularly care what my credit score is.

Some employers check credit scores.

My landlord checked mine too.

Ginger, can you expand on this:

One problem with what the credit card companies are doing is that your credit score is based on the percentage of your total available credit you're using.

I am not sure I understand. I have a ridic high credit limit, and do charge up to 10% of it on occasion, but have never carried a balance. And I have a really high credit rating.

You know what I'm not? In the mood for my 2 o'clock meeting.

And I ate a cookie and now feel yuck.

I just spent 3.5 hours on the phone to an overseas collegue to reconcile ONE invoice. OMG.

I have a ridic high credit limit, and do charge up to 10% of it on occasion, but have never carried a balance. And I have a really high credit rating.

If you use a small percentage of your overall limit, you'll have a better credit rating. But if your credit company lowers your limit (or if you close an account), the percentage you're using will go up even if your spending habits don't change.

It is That Time Of The Month. I wish to die now. However, I'm troublshooting computers. May I shoot them instead?

Landlords here generally ask for your credit report, not score. Mine is impeccable. It is fairly easy on a case-by-case basis to explain why your credit score might be lower than normal.

Not Ginger, but there is a formula for credit score. Here is how FICO is calculated [link] :

about 35% on your payment history

about 30% on the amount you currently owe lenders

about 15% on the length of your credit history

about 10% on the number of new credit accounts you've opened or applied for (fewer is better)

about 10% on the mix of credit accounts you have (mortgages, credit cards, installment loans, etc.)

How Can I Improve My Credit Score?

The best way to improve your credit score is to pay your bills on time and manage your credit wisely. The most important item is your mortgage. Make sure you pay it on time every month. Installment loans, where you borrow a set amount to buy new furniture or appliances, for example, are given more weight than credit cards.

Keep your borrowing well below your credit limits, because your FICO score will be lower if you are maxed out on your credit cards. Don't have more than two or three credit cards because a large number of credit cards also lowers your FICO score. Don't apply for several credit cards at one time; it makes lenders nervous and will lower your FICO score. Other factors also affect your score, such as home ownership, which raises it, and moving frequently, which lowers it.

ETA: Reliance on FICO for lending, instead of doing manual underwriting, is one reason we ended up in this mortgage mess to begin with.

Clean Coal PSA directed by the Coen brothers.

Really well done.

3/3/09: Celebrate Square Root Day!

When the month and day form the square root of the year, math geeks celebrate a special holiday. Well, presumably. I never made it past precalculus, so I’m only going by what the Associated Press says:

The math-buffs’ holiday, which only occurs nine times each century, falls on Tuesday — 3/3/09 (for the mathematically challenged, three is the square root of nine).

“These days are like calendar comets, you wait and wait and wait for them, then they brighten up your day — and poof — they’re gone,” said Ron Gordon, a Redwood City teacher who started a contest meant to get people excited about the event.

The winner gets, of course, $339 for having the biggest Square Root Day event.

Gordon’s daughter even set up a Facebook page — one of a half-dozen or so dedicated to the holiday — and hundreds of people had signed up with plans to celebrate in some way. Celebrations are as varied: Some cut root vegetables into squares, others make food in the shape of a square root symbol.

Don't forget Pi day is coming up in 11 days....