Credit Reports 101

I ran my free credit report through annualcreditreport.com.  I chose only one credit reporting agency.  You can receive all three from Equifax, Experian and TranUnion.  Since I am not making a major purchase i.e. car or home, I chose only one agency.

 Free Credit Reports

Once you fill in your information: name, address for the past two years and social security number, some security questions pop-up.  If you have a mortgage, they ask what the name of the institution is.  Do not be alarmed if mortgagee is not listed, mine was not.  They asked about a credit card I was issued in a specific year and to match the name of the institution.   All were easy to answer even for me and I am not a detail remembering type of person. 

How to Spot Identity Theft

 

The next screen is the breakdown of your credit history.  There is a pie chart, a listing of all lenders including how much you owe, what your limit is for each lender, when it originated and your debt to credit ratio.  I have been told 20 to 25 percent is a good number for your ratio.  I also have heard that 30% and under is a good ratio to have.  I think the goal is to have your debt to credit ratio be no higher than 25 to 30 percent.   At this point, you can figure your debt to income ratio by dividing your monthly payment as shown on the credit report by your monthly gross income.  I did just my income, I did not include my husband’s income.  I guess I could have included his income, since the mortgage and such are in both our names. 

 

not my actual pie chart

The screen with your credit breakdown also shows what credit cards have been cancelled, if you have applied for any credit in the past two years and any negative comments about your credit history.  Thankfully, I have no negative comments.  My identity has not been stolen, yet.  It was very interesting to see who and how often my credit report was requested.  The screen also indicates that the credit reports that were requested did not affect my credit score.  If you want your credit score then you can pay $7.95 to obtain it.  Since I am not making a purchase I am not interested in my score, I just wanted to know what the report stated.
 

not my actual score

Since I requested only one report from one agency, I can request another report in 6 months from a different agency and then request another a few months later.  By law, you can receive your credit report free every year.  I am spacing them out so I can keep track of any credit report requests for possible identity theft.  Once I decide to make a purchase like a new car in a year or two, I will request all three credit reports at once.  However, I will not pay for my credit score as I can obtain that free from a credit card company I have. 
 

I would like this to be my new car ....

I have a plan to watch my credit report since it seems so important to so many people.  Do you have a plan?