Keeping an eye on credit

[crimsonred98]

I just bought a second car, my interest rate is higher than I was expecting it to be, due to a credit score that is much lower than I expected it to be. I have always had good credit, but I had a financial fiasco with the first quarter I spent in college. Which had a much bigger impact on my credit score than I thought it would.

This has motivated me to keep much better track of my finances and a good eye on my credit score. I have tried to do a little research on my own, but I figured there would be some good advice here.

Where should a person go to keep a good eye on their credit report? Somewhere that, hopefully, tracks all 3 scores. We all get exposed to commercials for websites like freecreditscore.com but I am not sure if they do a good job, or if keeping an eye on your credit is a service you should expect to PAY for.

So my questions are:

Where should I go to keep an eye on my credit score reports, all 3 scores? And does it cost anything? If so, how much?

[JoshuaHeckathorn]

I always recommend just pulling a free credit report every 3-4 months from annualcreditreport.com. You get 3 free reports each year, so pull from a different CRA each time and check to make sure nothing looks strange. You can then keep an eye on your "estimated" TransUnion score by using Creditkarma.com. You won't get your real FICO score from them, but it's a free way to just keep an eye on things and update it as often as you like. If there is ever a worry something might be wrong, then get your real FICO score from myFICO.com.

[disneysteve]

I agree with Joshua. Checking your free report 3 times per year should be adequate for almost everyone. If you anticipate taking out a new loan, it might be worth buying your FICO score a couple of months before that just to see where you stand. Otherwise, I wouldn't waste the money.

Take good care of your finances and the credit score will take care of itself. Pay all of your bills on time. Don't charge more than 20-30% of your credit limit. Don't open a bunch of lines of credit just to get sign-up bonuses or store discounts. Stick to a couple of cards and use them responsibly.

[crimsonred98]

So I can pull 3 credit reports, per calender year, for free?

So I could pull all three this month and then get 3 more starting in January to use for the year of 2011?

[disneysteve]

It is a good idea to not pull all 3 at once. By pulling one every 4 months, you can keep a better watch on things. If you pull them all in January, it will be a year before you can pull them again (for free).

[JoshuaHeckathorn]

So I can pull 3 credit reports, per calender year, for free?

So I could pull all three this month and then get 3 more starting in January to use for the year of 2011?

You get 1 free report from each bureau every 12 months- it's not based on the calendar year. It's much better to space them out every 3-4 months.

[littleroc02us]

Do you realize that if you pay for a car in cash you don't need to worry about interest rates and credit scores? Never finance a car you can't afford unless you enjoy the payments. Buy used...

As for credit scores I have been recommended and do use Myfico.com. Always have and it runs your credit report for 1 of the companies free once per year and then I can buy my credit score if need be.

[cjscully]

You get 1 free report from each bureau every 12 months- it's not based on the calendar year. It's much better to space them out every 3-4 months.

Right, the idea is pull one bureau every four months. When you come back around to the first bureau you pulled again 12 months will have elapsed and you will be able to get that one for free again.

If you want to try to raise your credit score more aggressively and monitor the scores on a monthly basis, you could go with something like Consumerinfo.com (which, I believe, is owned by Experian). IIRC their monthly fee is in the $30-$40 range. This isn't really necessary for most people though.

[jpg7n16]

You can also do creditkarma.com between reports if you're that concerned. It's not exact, but it will show you the general direction you're headed, and it's free.

So then once every 4 months, pull your free report from 1 bureau; then use the free creditkarma to monitor progress until the next 4 months is up.


There's no way in the world I'd pay $360-480/year to know what credit score I have.