Keeping yourself informed about your credit score will help you stay one step ahead of creditors and avoid errors that could hurt you later. It’s easy to do, and often it’s free!
Keeping on top of your credit score can prevent identity theft or being denied loans. Checking your scores regularly will help you stay informed and on top of any discrepancies so you will never get hit with any credit surprises.
Keeping Track of Your Credit
Your credit score is an important tool. It will be used your whole life to determine your eligibility for each of the financial decisions you make. Knowing where this number falls on the credit scale will make sure that you are positively portrayed to creditors. When your credit score is correct, you can optimize the chances of qualifying for whatever loan you might apply for. If you don’t know the status of your score, you might be missing out on the advantages that come with a high credit score.
Keeping track of your score and fixing errors that may appear is the best way you can detect issues that may have been missed by the credit bureau. You can also fix larger issues like identity theft earlier, which can be crucial under those circumstances. When accessing this information is free, why not put yourself one step ahead in the game of credit?
Let us discuss what resources we can use to access our credit score, how often is often enough to check that everything is up to date, and how to catch issues such as identity theft before they develop.
Easy and Free Resources to Calculate Your Credit Score
Checking your credit score is easier than you might think. All you have to do is Google free credit reports. You can also contact any of the three credit bureaus to get information on your credit. You can check your score for free once a year by going through Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion. Most sites will require some basic information, name, social security number, etc. With that information, they can look up your credit score in detail. These sites will provide you with a number between 300-800 represented on a scale that indicates if you are in a good or bad credit range. They will often also provide a summary of what actions have affected your score. This way, you can adjust behaviors you didn’t know were negatively affecting you and catch any errors that should be removed from your history.
How Often to Check My Score
Making sure that everything looks right and correcting any discrepancies is manageable if you don’t let problems get out of hand. Check your credit score at least once a year. This way, you have an idea of where you sit on the scale. Also, check your score a couple of months before you plan to apply for a loan or a credit card; this way, you have time to correct any issues. On free sites, you can check your score as often as you want without any negative consequences. Most credit score websites will offer free monitoring and will alert you to issues or goals.
Besides the obvious advantages you will have when you are looking to use your credit to get loans or other credit-related benefits, knowing your score gives you control. It can also be a strong motivator to stay on top of your finances and to live within your means. A good relationship between you and your credit score will mean financial and identity security for you.
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