I have rented several apartments over the years (mostly in and around San Francisco) and have never once had my credit history checked by any of the rentees.

I have a car which I own completely (no loan) and I pay the absolute minimum amount of insurance required in California, which amounts to about $264/year.

I'm not saying credit doesn't matter, but the more you can do to limit your attack surface, the less likely you are to be harmed. The absolute best way to protect yourself is to not need to play along in the credit rat race.

I keep a security freeze on my credit reports, and never lose sleep. I can safely publish my SSN without giving one single fuck.