The economy, the "r" word and alot of debt thrown in for fun

I've been thinking alot lately about credit and debt and credit-to-debt ratio. It seems the recent downswing in the economy (not I don't use the "r" word!) has brought all these subjects even closer to mind. The TV media, the print media - even at parties and get-togethers conversation always seems to turn toward debt and the economy. And with a baby on the way, suffice to say - I'm getting a little scared.

When my parents were my age, credit cards were not a daily way of living. I remember my dad teaching me that fun was paid for in cash, while its ok to get a loan for your car and your home, the necessities in life. But, you never put clothes, entertainment or fun on your credit card. If you didn't have the money for these, you just didn't have them. Unfortunately, what I heard from him contradicted everything the world and my friends were doing. I did keep my credit card for 'emergency use' only for the longest time; but when you take that first step and put those concert tickets on the card, it seems there is no looking back. Oh, how I wish I would have learned and listened.

So I did something today that I have never done (although I've heard you should do it often). I went to www.annualcreditreport.com to check my credit rating. Why didn't I use www.freecreditreport.com, since I find myself singing their catchy little songs? Because, regardless of their name, they are not free. Only annualcreditreport.com - run by the government and verifed by verisafe - is free once a year.

I took a deep breath, put in my info and waited, foot tapping impatiently, to see what horrible debt my credit rating would show.

And it was scary. Very.

Not because I have alot of debt. In comparison to others, I probably don't. I have a mortgage, a car loan, a student loan and two credit cards (one shared with Hubby and one of my own). But wait, if thats all I have, what are those other 15 pages of credit card listings???

This is the scary part.

Those other 15 pages are the credit cards that I used to have and closed or still do have open, but are paid off and don't use. Such as Express, Victoria's Secret, Gap, Structure (really? I don't know if this store even exists anymore!), Banana Republic. All paid off. All with no balance for the last three-five years. But thats the scary thing with this credit report- it shows your credit history. Remember all those credit cards you opened your freshman year of college because if you opened an account, you received 10% off your purchase? They are still there lurking in your credit history like a bad ex-boyfriend.

It was also scary to see exactly how much debt I have. What I consider "good debt" (car, student loans and house) and "bad debt" (credit cards) are all thrown together in one big debt pile. When I look at that number - the whole number, without me saying 'oh, but thats my house and I have to have a place to live', etc - the number is crazy high. Like, how-am-I-ever-going-to-pay-this-off-in-my-life high.

I wouldn't recommend getting your credit history to just anyone. This is not for the faint of heart, or for those who prefer to think of these things later - after all the tags have been removed from purchases. I'm not going to shop for a year. Maybe two years. This has really got me thinking.

And you know how I hate thinking.