On the heels of the investigation of freecreditreport.com has been the launch of freescore.com, another site claiming to give consumers access to their credit report and score for "free". Turns out, this site is not fee, either. There is an upfront nominal fee and a monthly fee if you do not cancel within the 7 day trial period.
If you need a copy of your credit report, go to annualcreditreport.com. This is the government run site that is actually free. Look at each of the three major bureaus credit report once a year. If you are not experiencing an identity theft stuation, this should be enough. You can also purchase your FICO score at that time.
For some reason, consumers have become obsessed with their credit report. Credit report repair companies that charge exhorbitant fees are thriving. We need to educate ourselves on our credit reportss uses and understand if something on it adversely affects us and why. I was watching CNBC the other day, and a woman called in who owed double her salary in credit card debt. The hosts began a discussion on how to pay down the debt to protect her credit score. They completely glossed over the fact that the woman could not afford to buy food because her credit card minimum payments were so high.
Focus on paying your bills on time and living within your means. Everything else seems to sort itself.
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