We have received so many questions over the past few weeks about getting your own credit reports.  Here is what you need to know:
YOU CAN CHECK YOUR CREDIT REPORT AT NO COST TO YOU
Everyone is entitled to one free report annually from each of the three credit bureaus for a total of THREE free reports [...]

When you sign up for credit monitoring services, you’re not necessarily done.  What does that mean?
Well, as a credit consultant I get lots of questions about credit monitoring services:
Do they work?  Are they good?  What about Lifelock?
I also talk to people who have a credit question, so we start a conversation and somewhere in there I [...]

Understanding what makes up your credit score is important to getting better credit scores.  The second largest part of your FICO score is Amounts Owed and it accounts for 30% of your score.  An important factor in this part is the balances carried on your credit card accounts.  Many people think you have to keep a [...]

Does a cell phone contract help your credit?   Great question from one of our clients this week.  The short answer is no.  However…..with almost everything related to the topic of credit scores, there is a longer answer that must also be given.  Unless you are getting the pre-paid cell phones, this article is for you.
When [...]

We’ve written many times about the difference between FICO scores and FAKO scores – the ones that the credit bureaus advertise a lot that are not an equal comparison to the score that a lender sees.  So when your actual FICO scores are on sale, we want to make sure you know about it.
They usually [...]

There are five parts to the FICO score.  The second largest part, accounting for 30% of it, is the Amounts Owed, also called the Utilization Ratio.  This is the difference between the loan amount or credit limit on an account compared to the balance that is currently owed on it.    An important part of growing better credit [...]