In just ten minutes you can get a copy of your credit report to check for accuracy, but I'll let you in on a little secret. If you want a free credit report DO NOT go to FreeCreditReport.com. Their commercial jingles may be catchy, but they pay for those commercials by making suckers out of you and me. They sneakily sign you up for a credit monitoring service (whatever that is) and automatically charge you every month.
This is What You Do
Go to www.annualcreditreport.com. You can request your credit report for free once every 12 months from each of the credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, Transunion). So you could order all three, wait a year and then order them again, or you could order one every 4 months, or whatever other combination you want.
They won't ask for a credit card. That's because they won't charge you anything! Ever!...unless you want your credit score to go along with the report.They'll charge you 8 bucks for that, but if you want a FREE credit score read the next paragraph.
Free Credit Score
Go to www.creditkarma.com. This site is completely free (makes money off advertising) and allows you to update your credit score as often as you'd like. They also provide tips on how to improve your credit.
Don't worry about dinging your credit because all these credit checks are "soft" inquiries vs. "hard" inquiries. Hard inquiries are made by banks and other institutions before they give you a new line of credit and too many of them can lower your credit score. Soft inquiries won't show up on your credit report.
Even if you're a hardcore Dave Ramsey fan who only pays in cash, you should still check your credit report to make sure there isn't any fraudulent activity that could give you a real headache down the road.
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