Get Your Credit Score -- The Best Options

When it's time to work with your credit, what are the best options for getting your credit reports and credit scores?  If you just want your credit report, the only choice is:

http://www.annualcreditreport.com  

This is the site the bureaus were required to set up to allow consumers free online access to their credit reports.  Prior to the FACTA act, bureaus sold online access to the credit reports but would only mail the free copies of a consumer's credit file most states required.  Now, federal law requires free access to credit files.  

CREDIT SCORES -- You Need Them, Here's where to get them:

Recommended: www.myfico.com  |  Get 20% off by using the link below |

myFICO May Sale - Save 20% on FICO scores & credit reports

In all actuality, the credit score is as important as the credit file, and it is highly advisable to get your credit scores at least annually.  While there are several different credit score providers, the most important is the FICO (formerly Fair Isaac & Company) credit score.   The credit bureaus lobbyists were successful in keeping consumers from getting free access to their credit scores, arguing that consumers would be too confused (that's not a joke)!  Low and behold, they later discovered consumers needed to know the scores so badly that they would be willing to pay to get the scores.  So in order to obtain your credit score, you need to pay.

The best option is to buy the FICO score directly from www.myfico.com.  Each FICO score and credit file is $15 (but you really are paying for the score -- as you can get the credit file for free).  Just pay to get the FICO scores for Equifax and TransUnion once, the subscription services probably aren't worth it.  You can pull your score again when you've seen substantial changes in your credit file.

Experian pulled out of offering a FICO score, in an attempt to promote their own scoring system.  So although mortgage banks will likely use the FICO score from all three bureaus' reports (including Experian), you can't currently pay to find out what the FICO score is for your Experian file!  The score Experian sells at their website probably isn't worth buying unless your Experian credit file is significantly different than your other bureaus' files.  If you are really interested in your Experian score, they do offer a free trial of their credit score monitoring system, which will give you your credit score.  YOU MUST CANCEL WITHIN NINE DAYS or you will be charged.

http://www.experian.com 

If anyone has a better deal, please let us know.  

One last parting thought, here is a great spoof commercial by the FTC:

Lexington Law (Part 1)

Nothing upsets me more than industries that prey on consumers who are already having trouble. I'm all for the open market, and don't believe consumers by and large need to be protected from themselves.  Nevertheless, I wouldn't want to ever get into the pawn shop business, or payday loan business.  It just wouldn't give me any satisfaction.

Along a similar line, I can't stand credit repair organizations that are rip-offs.  In my mind, Lexington Law is one of those rip offs.

Now, I will say that the FTC is technically correct when they say consumers can do their own credit verification, just as technically you can give yourself a haircut.  But the cards are stacked against the consumer, which is why so many look to credit repair service providers.

Which is where Lexington Law comes in.  Wronged consumers with credit issues, search the web and find the website for Lexington Law. "Ahhh, maybe a specialized law firm can help me...."

What they don't realize is the law firm is simply a mechanism for avoiding the credit repair organization restrictions placed on firms by the federal government (can't collect fees before service provided, must be bonded, etc).  NO LAWYER WILL EVER LOOK AT ANYTHING FOR YOU.  They have a firm that contracts with the law firm front you sign the agreement with, with hourly employees who send out letters.  So, the $100 sign up fee and $50 / month gets you form letters sent by an hourly employee?  Is that it?

Oh, there's more.

Mint

So, even though I am surrounded by very financially fastidious people, I am not.  Despite man January efforts, I never became a QuickBooks user.  (Part of the problem has been their horrible Mac support.  Not being able to suck down my banking transactions always killed my efforts.)  

But in 2000, I started using Yodlee.  At first it really just helped me look at my family balance sheet, and monitor in one place the combined investment portfolio.

But what I have always really needed was a way to track spending against budgets.  Yodlee grew to include this functionality, but I never used it.  Now Mint has taken Yodlee's info and made it really really useful (and pretty).  It automatically groups and aggregates your expenditures.  You can go in and make sure they are correct, put rules in place, and tag items beyond the categories in which they are grouped.  Now I can EASILY track all my spending over time, look at pretty graphs of trends, tag items (useful for business expenses and tax planning) for other reasons, and not spend a ton of time to accomplish all those things.

Mint really is great.  If you want to be more financially responsible, but have never wanted to be one of those QuickBooks obsessed financially astute people, get over to Mint.  

 

Return to Normalcy

No one likes an economic downturn.  But perhaps one good aspect of more difficult times is media attention turns from the out of control lifestyles of celebrities and entertainment stars, to the real life issues of everyday citizens.  I hope to enter on this blog links to resources that help people manage their financial life more intelligently and efficiently, manage their investments intelligently, and promote a healthy perspective on consumption.