One of the really weird things about having bad credit is that you probably get more credit card offers than you did when your credit score was intact. You know, the envelopes with “You Have Been Pre-Selected to Receive a MasterCard With a $5,000 Limit!” emblazoned on the front.I get at least three or four of these offers a week.

And they go straight in the trash.

Why? Because I’m committed to taking myself “off the grid,” in terms of owing unsecured debt. This kind of debt is part of what got me into trouble in the first place, and getting more credit cards would only end up putting me farther in the hole.

Picture this: You know you have some expenses or bills coming up – your car payment is due next week, or you need to buy a wedding present for that obnoxious lady at the office who hasn’t stopped talking about her upcoming nuptuals for the past year.

You’ve responded to one of those pre-screened offers, and you have a shiny new credit card in your purse or wallet. It may carry a 24.99% interest rate, but still…

So do you spend some extra hours on your side business to make the extra money, or do you dump the expense on your new card, promising yourself you’ll make up the money next month?

I know what I’d do…

Of course, when next month rolls around, something else will have come up… and the debt will sit there and fester, racking up interest and sending you deeper and deeper into your own financial abyss. The more times you do this, that harder it becomes to recover without resorting to the B-bomb – personal bankruptcy.

Some experts will tell you that you need unsecured cards to rebuild credit score. Well, it does help… but only after you’ve paid down your existing unsecured debts. If you have bad credit and a lot of unsecured debt, potential lenders are only going to see you as being more financially…well, dangerous.

If you want to remove this temptation, here’s what you can do…

Call 1-888-5-OPTOUT. This takes you off the lists that Experian, Equifax and Transunion sell to the credit card companies. If you request to be removed these lists, the credit reporting agencies are REQUIRED to comply under Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) laws.

If you prefer to take care of this task online, just go to www.optoutprescreen.com.

Either way you’ll save yourself the temptation of digging  yourself deeper into debt.

(Image by Cliph via Flickr)