Thanks for the replies. I think I will close out 2 of them for now.
As to if we really need a good score, as an example of what it gets you, I was able to get a no cost, no points refinance of my home mortgage for 5.25% from 6%. Nothing out of pocket from me and reducing my interest rate 0.75% is a valid reason for maintaining a decent score even when I don't need any other type of financing (we paid cash for all of our cars...actually, I put a 2008 Toyota Tundra on the Alaska card and instantly got a free airline ticket with the points I made
...but don't be in horror, I sent a check to the CC company to pay the balance the next day.)
Now I get reamed for buying a new truck instead of beater. In my defense, my previous truck was a 1992 Ford F150 that I put over 200000 miles on.