Credit Monitoring

It is very important to monitor your credit especially if you are in the market for buying a home, car or a loan.  You have to make sure that no one has stolen your identity but even beyond criminal activity the credit bureaus have reporting errors.  Sometimes people with the same name are mixed up and you end up having someone’s bad credit account on your credit profile. 

Be sure to check your credit report once a year but for my taste I think it is more prudent to check your credit once a month.  The best service to do this is Credit Karma.  They are totally free and give you a break-down of your accounts.  I’m a big fan of free which some other credit monitoring services aren’t. 

By James Barker, published on 25 August 2008
Stock Photo - image ID: 100155

Credit Karma makes its money from the offers that it makes from credit cards and other loan products.  Some of them may actually be worth your while.  If you have a bad interest rate on a credit card you may be able to do a balance transfer on a card for 6-12 months free interest.  That could save you hundreds of dollars. 

If you haven’t found out by now, you will later, that credit is one of the most important things you can have if you are trying to get ahead.  Make sure you check it frequently.