𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓒𝓐𝓝𝓝𝓞𝓣 𝓭𝓸 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓵𝓸𝔀 𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓭𝓲𝓽 𝓼𝓬𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓼 ⚠️

Your credit score is your credit history, and it's a reflection of how much you spend, how quickly you pay your debts, how long you've had credit extended to you, and how many types of credit you work with. It lets lenders, retailers, and even potential employers determine how trustworthy you are. If you decide to stop caring about your credit, then you'd better be ready to say goodbye to the following.

⚠️1. 𝓖𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪 𝓖𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓜𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓰𝓪𝓰𝓮

While borrowers with the best credit could get an average interest rate of 3.72%, that jumped to 4.25% for those with lower credit scores. A subprime mortgage requires a heftier down payment and lots more interest than a standard loan, which makes it perhaps the biggest downside of bad credit.

⚠️2. 𝓡𝓮𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓗𝓸𝓶𝓮

There's a reason Zillow's first suggestion to homeowners looking to refinance with bad credit is to improve it: You don't have many other options. You can either shove a whole lot of liquid assets into the bank to show you have something to fall back on, get a cosigner or, if you have a Federal Housing Authority loan, get a Streamline Refinance with no credit check.

⚠️3. 𝓖𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓘𝓷𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮

Drivers with poor credit can pay double or even triple the auto insurance premium of a driver with good credit, according to a study by InsuranceQuotes.com.

Poor credit scores can also more than double homeowner and renter insurance premiums.

⚠️4. 𝓕𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪 𝓒𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓹 𝓐𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽

You can get an apartment with bad credit, but you may have to increase your deposit, get a cosigner, and do a lot more paperwork than someone with better credit.

⚠️5. 𝓖𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓯𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓛𝓲𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓮

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority won't license you as a broker if you have bad credit, largely because few clients want brokers who are in financial straits themselves.

⚠️6. 𝓢𝓲𝓰𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪 𝓒𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓹𝓱𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽

Roughly 49 percent of Americans have no idea bad credit can limit a person's options for phone service. Those with bad credit can get a prepaid phone with no credit check, but they'll pay far more upfront than someone with good credit on a standard plan.

⚠️7. 𝓢𝓮𝓬𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪 𝓢𝓽𝓾𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓛𝓸𝓪𝓷

Your ability to pay off a student loan certainly affects your credit score, but a credit score is often what secures that loan in the first place. Good credit isn't required for a federally funded student loan; however, parents applying for a federal PLUS loan "must not have an adverse credit history," though.

⚠️8. 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪 𝓑𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼

If you're looking to open a franchise, a parent company is going to run your credit to see if you can be trusted to pay for it. Business loans and startup loans also require some modicum of good credit to proceed. If you lack that, your best bet is to ask family members or friends for loans or go to online microlenders for the money.