Last night I went to www.annualcreditreport.com to get my free credit report - I believe it has been 2 years since I have actually looked at one. I selected Equifax for the report (no specific reason - just random).
The site said I could get my score for just under $8 - I didn't really plan on getting my score, but I figured $8 was worth a piece of mind.
I haven't fully dug into the report yet - just skimmed a few items, but here were some things I noticed and some thoughts.
1. My credit score is 789 - Excellent rating. At first I was pissed for wasting the $8 when my score is good, but now I am glad I did it. Since I am a numbers person, my score makes me think - Why not 800? Should I try to improve it? Does it really matter if it is already "excellent"?
2. The name displayed on my report is my last name on my first marriage. I thought that was very strange - That marriage only lasted 1 year and I changed my name back to my maiden name once the divorce was over. I haven't used that name on anything since 1998.
3. I have 16 revolving accounts listed on the report. YIKES! most of them were opened for a 1 time charge for a discount or some other promotion. I will definately think twice about doing this in the future.
4. Negative factors affecting my score.
a. The time since your most recent account opening is very recent. This is probalby true - no arguements.
b. You have no recent revolving balance information being reported. If I am reading this correctly - since I do not have any credit card balances - it negatively affects my score? hmmm... I don't think I am going to work on this one.
c. You have a relatively high number of consumer finance company accounts being reported. I agree - I probably need to close a lot of these accounts, but will closing them also negatively affect my score? I thought I read somewhere that it would.
d. The length of time your accounts have been establised is relatively short. I have two credit cards and one business card account - all of them I have opened in the last year or two. These will be the ones I keep "open".
This next year since I am buckling down to pay off my car loan I do not want to use credit cards at all - only pay for items I have the money for. Is that wise? Should I use them occasionally?
I plan on digging into the report more the next few days - just by glancing at the report it seems a little confusing.
My other gripe about the credit report thing is why can I only have one free copy a year? This is information about ME. I should be able to access it (with out paying) whenever I want. And why is the score such a secret? This is something that affects what kind of interest rates I qualify for - why should I have to pay to receive my own score?
Credit Report and Score
January 24th, 2007 at 08:24 pm
January 24th, 2007 at 08:29 pm 1169670583
January 24th, 2007 at 09:07 pm 1169672822
January 25th, 2007 at 01:36 pm 1169732214
January 25th, 2007 at 02:34 pm 1169735655
April 9th, 2008 at 02:25 pm 1207751102
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