 Re: myfico.com
We are an affiliate with myfico.com. But even before we were, it's something I personally subscribe to for both myself and DH. And I do this for a few reasons.
Although I know you can get the annual credit report online for free, there are other times that you need to pull a bureau on yourself, particularly before a major purchase. But the subscription I do for a few bucks a month is the myfico Scorewatch.
Scorewatch shows you your recent credit score, which the annualcreditreport does NOT show a score when you get the free report, and they do give you a link to get your score, but it's a one-time cost, for about the same as your would pay with three months of the score watch.
So any time there is a change to my bureau, I get an email alert. If my score goes up, down, there is a balance increase/decrease, etc. It also has good information about things like if your score was X amount higher, the interest bracket on a home loan would be YZ that a mortgage lender might offer you. So if you are working on trying to get your score up, this is a good way to be on top of it.
And too, if you have any weird activitiy on your account, this will alert you faster. ID theft isn't a fun thing to have happen and most people aren't aware it happens until it is too late.
I have to say that Dh and I have good credit. But we want to refinance our home in the next year, and so I subscribed to this service in June. By tracking things, shifting some credit around, and watching how our score moves and what triggers the changes either good or bad (things like getting balances under 1/2 the total available credit on the line, or opening new accounts, etc) being conscientous about it has increased DH's and my score by about 50 points each, and has put us in a better bracket to refi the house.
The 1/2 a point percentage change, for having a better score would give us on our loan amount (which is over 400K) a difference of $70 a month over 30 years saves us $25K over the life of the loan on interest. Worth a few bucks a month for the myfico scorewatch IMHO.
So yes, by all means, please get your free annual credit report and start paying attention to your credit score, money, and personal finances. But if you want to step it up a notch and really get good about your finances, bettering your credit score opens you up to all kinds of 0-balance offers, better home and car interest rates, and anymore, employers look at your creditworthiness for employment offers. So all the way around, it's good to know what you're up against, then work on fixing blemishes and boosting that credit score.
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