Having a good credit score can do much more than simply make you the envy of your friends and family. And while it can’t buy you love (not in the traditional sense, anyway) the benefits of maintaining a high credit score are plentiful.

You can’t get a good interest rate on a loan if your FICO’s in the toilet, for one. In fact, you may not qualify at all. But those lucky enough to do so despite a record pockmarked with delinquencies will end up with interest rates that rival the Sears Tower in terms of enormity. If you want an idea of how much you can save by having a good credit score, consider the extra money you’ll spend on finance charges if you’re stuck with an interest rate of 30 percent, instead of five. The same concept applies whether you’re financing a TV, a car, or a home. The higher the cost, the higher the price you’ll pay. Compared to people with poor credit, homeowners with good credit scores save tens of thousands of dollars over the life of their mortgage.

But the benefits aren’t just limited to the money you spend. Good credit can actually impact how much money you can earn. More and more companies are starting to perform credit checks on their potential employees and using the information to make decisions on whether or not someone’s hirable. Similar to criminal background checks and drug screening, pre-employment credit checks are perfectly legal and are becoming more frequent every day.