Money & Finance #59: Credit, Money Management, and Saving

1. I read the article, How Credit Scores work, and I took the Credit Score Quiz. I got an 80 per cent on the quiz mainly because I flubbed an answer that I actually new. The question I got wrong was on insurance and credit scores. I found the article interesting. I learned how the credit bureaus figure out your credit scores. They take into account different aspects of your history not just what you owe. It was eye opening.
2. My husband and I have tried budget plans a few times. It has never worked. We tend to overspend and not use credit wisely. We do not have credit cards any more. This works for us. We have our monthly expenditures: mortgage, utilities, insurance, gasoline cards. We have weekly expenses: food, dog items etc. Once our income went down we had to cut way back. I am not interested in trying to make a budget plan now.
It has never worked for us.
3. I went to the TCDRS site. I found the contact information helpful. I liked their chart on retirement dates, when to get applications in and first check. I do not remember my pin and did not want to check my information on line. If I need to contact them I will do it over the phone which they suggest doing anyway.