I Have a Financial Question..

"mazdaspeed2" (mazdaspeed03) 08/15/2014 at 13:47 • Filed to: FINANCELOPNIK

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I have never checked my credit score before and I would like to know the best way to check it, preferably free. I have seen the commercials, but for them to be paying for commercials they must have money coming in somewhere. I don't want to sign up at a bunch of places to find out I have to pay for more information or something similar.

I've also heard that checking it multiple times within a certain time period is bad, any truth to this?

Sorry for being a noob, have an rs200 with rally lights for your troubles!

Jayhawk Jake > mazdaspeed2 08/15/2014 at 13:49

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Credit Karma is legit. They make their money by advertising offers to you

willkinton247 > mazdaspeed2 08/15/2014 at 13:49

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CreditKarma.com

It's actually free. I highly suggest it.

N51fanatic > mazdaspeed2 08/15/2014 at 13:50

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The free ones they mail to you (takes weeks) and it doesnt come with an actual score, just the report.

The ones you pay for give you a score.

What you do is signup for a credit monitoring service that gives you access to run as many reports as you want, run a report, then cancel the service before the "whatever day" promotional period ends.

Nibbles > mazdaspeed2 08/15/2014 at 13:50

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Annualcreditreport.com All three bureaus are required to give you one free report per year, and this is the easiest place I've found to get them. All three, right there, no credit card ever asked for or mentioned.

mazda616 > mazdaspeed2 08/15/2014 at 13:51

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I've used annualcreditreport.com and Credit Karma. Both work well.

yamahog > mazdaspeed2 08/15/2014 at 13:52

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FYI, if you are also in the market for a credit card, Discover gives you your score on your statement each month.

Just wear your damn mask... > mazdaspeed2 08/15/2014 at 13:52

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Federal law allows you to get a free credit report from each of the three credit agencies per year. The official site for doing this is www.annualcreditreport.com . You can access and view you report from each agency for free, and they all offer various add-on services for a fee, including the ability to go back and look again later. I used to do this annually, but I haven't for a couple years. Thanks for the reminder.

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > mazdaspeed2 08/15/2014 at 13:54

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Creditkarma.com It is ACTUALLY free, unlike freecreditreport.com and all their catchy commercials. No credit card required.

mazdaspeed2 > yamahog 08/15/2014 at 13:55

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I already have a card, but I do get letters from discover to get a student card every week or 2, and I did like that feature.

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > Nibbles 08/15/2014 at 13:55

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That is a great way to find discrepancies in your credit but if I remember correctly they don't give you the actually score. Creditkarma gives both for free as many times as you want it.

mazdaspeed2 > Nibbles 08/15/2014 at 13:56

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Awesome, thanks!

mazdaspeed2 > Just wear your damn mask... 08/15/2014 at 13:56

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Anytime! Thanks for your help!

Orange Exige > yamahog 08/15/2014 at 13:56

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With Discover your score is available online too at any time and it's updated - from what I've seen - every few days or a week or so.

Nibbles > IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK 08/15/2014 at 13:56

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Now you're making me second guess myself. Damnit.

mazdaspeed2 > mazda616 08/15/2014 at 13:56

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That seems to be the consensus here.

mazdaspeed2 > IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK 08/15/2014 at 13:57

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Looks like that is the way to go or annualcreditreport

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > mazdaspeed2 08/15/2014 at 13:58

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Annual credit report just gives you the report not the score

KMarino > Orange Exige 08/15/2014 at 14:00

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I have a capital one card that just started giving me my credit score online. it updates once a month and alerts me if there is any activity to the report.

Orange Exige > Jayhawk Jake 08/15/2014 at 14:01

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I know Credit Karma is legit but from my experience, it might not work for everyone because it didn't work for me - it said I had a thin file and couldn't show my credit score.

I'm only 20 and had my one credit card for a couple years now (3+) and do have a credit history and score (I got from other sources), but Credit Karma still didn't work out for me when I last tried a couple months ago and have tried a year or two in the past as well.

mazdaspeed2 > IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK 08/15/2014 at 14:04

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Ohh, what is the difference from the report and the score?

nermal > N51fanatic 08/15/2014 at 14:06

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I just did the annualcreditreport.com one last month. Everything is done online now, and you can download PDFs of your report from all 3 credit reporting agencies. Took me < 15 min to get everything.

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > mazdaspeed2 08/15/2014 at 14:16

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The report is mostly useful to find dependencies in your credit. I.E. someone has opened up a credit card in your name. The actual score is useful if you're looking to get a loan because it will give you an idea of what time of interest rate you'll be eligible for.

Eric in the PNW > Jayhawk Jake 08/15/2014 at 14:58

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That's a fake score, based vaguely on FICO. You can't get a FICO without either paying or suffering a hard pull from a credit application (they send it to you with the approval or rejection).

mazdaspeed2 > IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK 08/15/2014 at 15:06

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Oh okay, thanks for the info I appreciate it!

1.21 JIGGA WATTS!!! > mazdaspeed2 08/16/2014 at 21:28

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Like everyone else has said, creditkarma.com is free and I have had nothing but good luck with it. It keeps track of all the hard inquiries done on you, what the credit reports have for a balance on your card, and "A" credit score. It gives you TransUnion's calculated credit score. It also gives you your "Vantage Score". The Vantage Score is the three credit bureau's answer to the FICO score (which almost everyone uses). They calculate the score based on your behavior. I have found that the Vantage Score mirrors my FICO score pretty closely.

Credit Karma keeps track of your credit utilization, payment history, derogatory marks, age of credit history, total accounts, and credit inquiries. Credit Karma also has a beta program going where it has your credit report as well. Not sure how accurate it is, but it has some peace of mind.