Getting Your Free Credit Scores Can Save You Thousands!

A credit report can tell you many things. Find out for yourself what the credit bureaus are saying and what your credit scores are! Save time, money and mistakes by understanding this important report.

Why Know Your Credit Scores?

It's been said that over 70% of the credit reports have errors on them. I've not been able to really confirm it, but even if just half of the credit reports have mistakes you have a problem. .

If the credit bureaus are reporting to your potential lenders things that may not be true in your case, it can cost you thousands of dollars in interest expenses. Why not be sure that your personal credit report is accurate?

• What credit really is
• How it works
• Why you need it in today's society
• Where to get your FREE Credit Report

Please feel free to pass this webpage on to your friends because it's always better to give rather than to receive.

What is Credit?

Credit is your chance to use the OPM (Other Peoples Money) formula. It serves as a convenience for you and you should look at it as a privilege. You should protect it carefully.

Credit makes it possible for you to charge your visit to a restaurant, (I don't recommend this unless you pay off your balance monthly) buy that new stove, buy a car or even go to school. In short, credit makes it possible for you to obtain things when you don't have the cash readily available. Furthermore, having good credit can help you obtain some of the top credit cards and get a low interest loan for purchasing a new home.

When you use credit, you promise to pay in the future for an item or service that you got today. Credit is not free. It does cost you something.

In the case of credit cards, unless you pay them off monthly you'll begin to accrue interest at a very fast pace.

If you're buying a car or home, then it begins the day you sign the contract, interest is how the lender makes their profits.

My First Credit Card

I'll never forget when I got my first credit card. I was just 18 years old and fresh out of high school. I got a gas credit card.

I was thinking I was really cool, I had my new 1973 Camero, had my gas card, wow I was hot!! Man... I burned up so much gas in the first few months of getting that car.

Of course I put the fuel cost on my new gas credit card. I was going to start building my credit report. I heard about credit bureaus etc., but never knew my credit scores.

Within no time at all my credit card balance was over $300. All of this was just gas that I had used in my car.

The miles were used up, my gas tank was empty again and guess what?

The first month I made the minimum payment, but the second month was a shocker to me! $300 was a lot of money to a teenager so I was now going to learn how interest would affect my balance.

Man I quickly figured out if I just keep making the minimum payments I'm not getting anywhere! It's going to take me forever to pay off that balance.

Anyway, credit is rather easy to get. It can be your friend or it can quickly become your enemy. Use it carefully because any late payments will affect your good credit rating.

How Credit and Credit Bureaus Work!

I started to talk a little about how credit works just above. It's very important for you to understand this since in the long run it can cost you thousands of dollars if you fail to get the complete picture.

The credit bureaus get monthly reports from anybody that extends you credit. If you pay on time, that helps you build good credit scores.

Shortly I'll show you how to get your free credit report but I feel it's important you understand these points first.

Credit is not taught in the schools and our children are destroying their credit before they reach 20 years old in many cases.

Your scores are like the report card you got when in school. All your financial details and more are contained in them. Want to see your financial report card? You can get your today.

Now when you use credit, the lenders are trusting that you'll pay them back as you agreed to on the application you signed. I bet you never even read it! Very few people do and that's what lenders count on. Contained in the fine print are some details that will catch you off guard. I know this is true. Let me explain.

A few years ago I fell upon some hard times. It was very difficult to pay the bills each month.

Since I had good credit scores, I just started using my credit cards to pay my bills. Then with all of these balance transfer offers with zero interest for 6 months, you guessed it, soon I was playing the "Credit Card Game".

Even though none of my bills went unpaid, I had a few occasions when they got the payment a few days late. That's me just underneath here. Man.....I really felt frustrated.

Now I was never over 30 days late, just a few days past the due date. These credit card companies knew exactly what was happening.

They can tell if you're pyramiding your debt playing the "Game". They started to lower my credit limits, excessive fees were starting to be accessed for being a few days late. Even though I called (well...my wife did anyway) them and ask to get them waived, sometimes it worked, others times it did not.

Now here I am, in my mid forties, and just not knowing what to do. I knew that having good credit scores was important.

Because I had been denied credit, I was able to get a copy of my free credit report. I was watching my credit scores go from the mid 700 range into the high 600's.

My insurance company raised my auto insurance rates because they monitor the credit bureaus for each of their clients.

I was mad! Here for years I had been paying all my bills on time (Opps..I mean my wife was), my credit was spotless and now all of a sudden all of my creditors decided to punish me.

It felt so personal. I was under some hard times financially and now they wanted to add greater pressure.

Why it was just a few months ago when my mailbox was flooded credit card offers. I stopped getting these "Zero percent till year..." offers. I'm sure you know what I mean! Hmm...Seemed strange to me!!

The credit bureaus somehow were sending the message to my creditors that my good credit scores were sinking and I was heading for a disaster.

I learned real fast how great credit scores can quickly turn south!

Why Do We Need Credit Today?

It will be very hard to get by today without good credit scores. Many employers are running a credit report on potential employees.

Your auto insurance company will decide on how high or low your insurance premiums will be based on your credit scores. This one really ticks me off.....remember how I told you my auto insurance was raised when my credit scores went lower?

Using my free report I called my agent when my credit scores had improved. I still had great credit scores and the credit bureaus were doing their job of reporting these.

So I ask my insurance agent for a discount since things had gotten better. "No discount was available"...he said. So I changed insurance companies and got a lower rate elsewhere with using my new and improved credit scores. Lesson learned? You need to watch your credit report on a regular basis.

Everything we do today is based on these three digit figures. You need to make sure that the credit bureaus are reporting on you accurately. The last thing you need are surprises.

Furthermore, having good credit can help you obtain some of the top credit cards and get a low interest loan for purchasing a new home.

Where to Get Your Free Credit Report?

Since low credit scores can and will cost you thousands of dollars in higher interest, it's very important that you see your credit report today. You can get a free copy of your credit report once a year at www.annualcreditreport.com.

I hope you found this page helpful. Please learn from my mistakes and keep watch on your credit. Nobody else will. .

Do you have more questions? Have a question is an awesome place to look for answers. If you cannot find an answer you are looking for, you can also ask it right there. Go ahead...pick my brain!

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