Hello, I am new to the forum.

[Bonks22]

Hi everyone!

This is my first post to introduce myself. I am a college student and a full time software developer. After a year in college I spent about $4000 in credit and $11000 for a used auto loan. One year ago, I started to understand my money more and decided to budget so I could pay off these debts. After extensively reading self improvement tips online and the help of my well-paying job, 1 year later I have paid off $3000 of that credit debt, and almost $2000 of my auto loan, all while still paying for rent and the other essentials.

Why did I register here? Well, this marks a year since I been budgeting and I notice how much it can change my life. Also I have a review coming up and I'm hoping for a raise and therefore I need to rebudget everything.

Another reason why I ended up searching for financial advice is because I just checked my truecredit account. They never seem to update my report or scores. I pay $14.95 per month and it doesn't even update them monthly! Should I expect an update more frequently?

Alright, hope that wraps things up.

- Ryan

[creditscore]

welcome dude...keep posting

[jIM_Ohio]

Welcome. You can get 1 credit report free per year. I don't see a reason to pay $150+ per year to monitor credit.

[Seeker]

truecredit.com is a subsidiary of Transunion. The three major reporting companies will calculate scores differently.... and also if there has been no inquiries (no new applications for credit/loans etc) then there may not be any changes to the number that you see. Also, if you pay for this service, they are supposed to be updating daily (but I've heard of people not getting updated at all.... so beware). I'd recommend contacting their Customer Support if you know that there's been activity that should change your number.

I agree with the others, there's really no reason to monitor your credit report that closely.

Through https://www.annualcreditreport.com/ you can obtain a free credit report every year. What most people do is ladder the reports such that you obtain Experian in January, Equifax in May, Transunion in Sept. -- or one report every four months (whichever months).

Unless you've had some issues in the past, I too, can think of better uses of $150/year.

[disneysteve]

Welcome. Sounds like you are on the right track. I also agree that you should not be paying to check your credit report. Better to use that money for debt reduction or additional savings.

[Bonks22]

Thanks for the advice guys. You got me thinking now whether to pay this close of attention to my credit. Currently I'm at 710-750 and I think I have some kind of OCD for heavily monitoring my finances now LOL.

Btw disneysteve, great quotes in your sig. I like the last 2

[Brandalyne]

I had Truecredit until a few weeks ago. It will send alerts to your email for any changes such as inquiries or new accounts but if you want to update your credit report you have to click on the Update Report button. You can do this once every 24 hours.

[Bonks22]

Yes you're right. I had to call today to find that out. When the guy told me there's a link "Update now" I was like where??? It took me a while to locate it since it was a dull color link on a gray background =/

[maat55]

[QUOTE]

You got me thinking now whether to pay this close of attention to my credit.

I would pay more attention to how you run your finances, to your benefit, than to FICO's benefit. Good money managment will lead to a good score. Keeping an eye on credit fraud is your only worry.

[djabloel]

I second Seeker's advice. As we are just starting out, I get free credit reports from annualcredittreport .com once every 4 months from one of the three providers.