Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background.

What's the fuss about Credit Score / History?
If human beings were Homo Economicus, i.e. textbook rational and self-interested economic-minded beings, as opposed to simply human, then yes, simple advice like "just stay out of debt and your credit score will take care of itself" could work.  Your simplification would be very persuasive to such a being. However, people are not perfectly rational.  We buy something we shouldn't have, we charge it on a credit card, we can't afford to pay it off at the end of the month.  We lose our job.  Our furnace breaks down, or our roof leaks, and we didn't anticipate the replacement cost.  Some of this is our fault, some of it isn't – basically, shit happens .. and we get into debt...  maybe even knowing all the while we shouldn't have. Our credit history and score takes a hit.  Only then do we find out there are consequences! Our interest rates go up, our insurance companies raise premiums, our prospective new employers or landlords run credit checks and either deny us the job or the apartment. Telling a person who asks for help about their credit history/score that they shouldn't have taken on debt in the first place is like telling the farmer he should have kept the barn door shut so the horse wouldn't run out.  While it is not "bad" advice, it's not the only kind of advice to offer when somebody finds themselves in such a situation. Adding advice about corrective actions is more helpful.  The person probably already know that they shouldn't have overspent in the first place and got into debt.  Yes, remind them of the value of being sensible about debt in the first place – it's good reinforcement – but add some helpful advice to the mix.  e.g. "So you're in debt.  You shouldn't have lived beyond your means.  But now that you are in this mess, here's what you can do to improve the situation."