Free Credit Score
What Is A Credit Score?
A credit score is a number that reflects the information in your credit report. The score summarizes your credit history and helps lenders predict how likely it is that you will repay a loan and make payments when they are due. Lenders may use credit scores in deciding whether to grant you credit, what terms you are offered, or the rate you will pay on a loan.
Information used to calculate your credit score can include:
- The number and type of accounts you have (credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, etc.)
- Whether you pay your bills on time
- How much of your available credit you are currently using
- Whether you have any collection actions against you
- The amount of your outstanding debt
- The age of your accounts
Free Credit Score
Ok, here’s something new…a free credit score that’s really free. I did it myself. It doesn’t cost a single cent and I didn’t have to sign up for any trials of anything, no credit card offers, and no monthly credit monitoring service. There is no bait-n-switch, period. It’s FREE! Click here to get your free credit score now from Credit Karma.
Credit Card Shopping
After you get your free credit score, log into your free Credit Karma account, click on the Credit Cards link in the menu to find credit cards offers. I think we tend to forget there’s more than just the usual cards from Chase, Discover, Capital One, and the like. Those cards then to have high interest rates because of the rewards like airline miles, points for gifts, gas rebates and more. Who do you think pays for those perks? You do via higher interest rates.
To tell you the truth, unless you’re able to pay your balance off each and every month, credit cards with rewards are great. But if you carry a balance be prepared to pay significantly higher rates for those “benefits”.
Skip The Rewards
If you’re going to carry a balance on your card, then skip cards with rewards and take advantage of those without lower interest rates.
Get Back On Track
Remember how excited you were to get your first credit card? You paid your bill in full every month, but then unexpected bills came up like that root canal that wasn’t completely covered by your dental insurance or unexpected car repairs. Man, it adds up fast and pretty soon you’re making minimum payments and the interest is killing you. It’s like taking three steps forward and one step back.
Oh, and when the credit card offers started coming in the mail, you signed up for another card and another and another… Before you knew it, you were up to your eyeballs in credit card debt. Oh, and in case you missed it, prior to the new Federal credit card laws going into effect on February 22, 2010, many banks raised their interest rates by several points. It happened to me and I have excellent credit. Wells Fargo and Chase were the worse. Why’d they do it? Because they could. Because they knew it wouldn’t be so easy after the new laws.
Use the Credit Karma repayment calculators to get back on track. You’ll find them in the menu under Tools & Calculators.
