Money Challenge: Get to Know Your Credit

Money Challenges
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Welcome to The Penny Hoarder’s monthly Money Challenge, helping you find simple ways to improve your finances.

This month, we’re taking a look at one of the most important elements of your financial health: your credit.

In this challenge, you’ll obtain your credit reports, confirm they’re correct and find out your credit score.

You’re also in luck, as the three major credit bureaus are offering free weekly credit reports through the end of December 2022 (normally, this is offered just once per year).

To obtain your free credit reports, start at annualcreditreport.com. It takes only a few minutes to complete.

  • Click the button at the top of the page saying “request your free credit reports.”
  • Enter your information and request the reports you want. You’ll have to share a fair amount of personal information and answer some questions to verify your identity.
  • From there, the site will take you on a step-by-step journey to access and review your report from each bureau.

http://community.thepennyhoarder.com/ws/Know%20Your%20Credit.jpg

What to look for on your credit reports:

  • Is your personal info correct?
  • Do you recognize all the accounts in each report?
  • Is your payment history correct?

If you see any errors – like an inaccurate address, payment delinquencies or unfamiliar accounts – you can submit a dispute. To submit a claim, you’ll be asked to create a free account with that particular credit bureau.

Check your credit scores

While the free credit reports do not give you your actual credit score, you can easily obtain both your FICO and VantageScore credit scores multiple ways.

Check your credit card statement to see your FICO Score, as some issuers (Bank of America, Discover and Citibank, for example) offer their customers their FICO Scores every month for free. You can also get a free FICO Score from Experian at freecreditscore.com.

VantageScore is a scoring model created by the credit bureaus as an alternative to FICO credit scores. You can check it for free each month on a variety of platforms like the Experian app or C****redit Sesame, or through financial institutions like Chase Bank, Capital One, OneMain Financial (provided by TransUnion) and U.S. Bank (provided by Experian).

It doesn’t really matter if you check one or both of your credit scores. The important thing is to keep up with at least one of the major scoring models, so you know roughly where you and your credit stand.

How to complete the challenge

  • Obtain your free credit reports from the three credit bureaus.
  • Check your personal information, accounts and payment history.
  • Look for red flags, which are indicators of possible identity theft.
  • Get your credit score.

Let us know if you complete the challenge and share your insights with the community!

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I use the three credit cards you mentioned above, Bank of America, Discover, and Citibank. I review my credit scores every month. I also get free credit reports through all three credit card companies, I never go to the 3 major reporting bureaus as the bureaus have been Hacked in the past few years. I’ve been a holder for over 28 years and have an excellent credit score as per the credit card companies, my scores range between 828 and 868 as per the credit card companies. Also, the credit card companies listed above have not been Hacked like the said 3 bureaus.

I had lost a card as a fault of my own and I called the credit card company right away and they told me, they would cancel the card and re-issue a new card with new numbers, it never affected my scores, also the card companies email me to let me know that everything is safe and nothing reported as fraud, or stolen numbers, etc.

I am happy with everything they provide.

P.S., I also use MINT to verify everything also.

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I received my credit report for the first time doing this challenge. Thankfully, no red flags, but I found a couple errors, including a typo in a previous address and a misspelling of the name of a former employer.

My FICO score is in a decent spot and on the rise as I continue to pay down my debt. So that’s nice.

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i use equifax and two others

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What a fun challenge! I regularly check my credit scores at Navy Federal, Citibank and American Express which has recently ranged between 820 to 853. I like how it informs me of the factors impacting my credit score. I’ve only seen my complete credit report twice when purchasing a home, and the last time was five years ago.

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That is cool that they are giving weekly credit reports this month, thanks for sharing!

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The three bureaus recently extended free weekly credit reports through the end of 2022! I usually just check my reports once every year or so to make sure I recognize everything. I monitor my scores through my bank like you do @big.lew and @pinay. But you both are credit score rockstars with those 800+ scores! I can’t seem to get mine above 780-790.

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@dear.penny posted:

The three bureaus recently extended free weekly credit reports through the end of 2022! I usually just check my reports once every year or so to make sure I recognize everything. I monitor my scores through my bank like you do @big.lew and @pinay. But you both are credit score rockstars with those 800+ scores! I can’t seem to get mine above 780-790.

It didn’t happen overnight!