A credit check(list)

When was the last time you checked on your credit?

Over the next few weeks, I plan on covering credit and debt, from their importance in our financial systems to the logistics of managing common types (including credit cards and student loans). Today, I want to start with a credit check.

When was the last time you checked on your credit? Mine was today. I learned a few things in the process and had fun reminiscing. My oldest credit card is going on 10 years! I paid 28k for my car back in 2018. I was reminded of the day we paid off our mortgage on our California home and the exact amounts (realizing we only paid down 12k in principal over the three years we lived there…). There were also a lot of little checkmarks and dollar amounts for every payment and balance I’ve had on a credit card (open or closed) for the past 7 years, and a soft inquiry from Credit Karma EVERY SINGLE DAY.

These are the things that I did to conduct a credit check and recommend you do too:

✅ Pulled my credit reports from all three bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) at AnnualCreditReport.com. Free reports are federally mandated. Right now, they are available weekly. I reviewed these carefully for inaccuracies or signs of fraud. I checked that my addresses and information were correct. I made sure that all the accounts were ones that I opened.

✅Checked my credit score. I did this through each financial institution I use with free credit monitoring. There was a 32-point difference between the banks (they used different credit scores)! You can also use apps like Credit Karma. None of these are perfect, but they are a good alert system in case something is wrong.

✅ Continued the freeze on my credit. Whose personal information hasn’t been part of some data breach these days? We froze our credit (meaning no new credit pulls or applications without us specifically unfreezing our credit first) a few years ago, and I see no reason not to have my credit frozen. It’s an easy measure to limit access to my information and prevent unwanted accounts from being opened in my name.

✅Updated and checked my own accounting of all our credit/debt accounts. This meant ensuring all our accounts are linked to our budgeting software and making notes about the accounts in the software. I recommend keeping information about all your credit and debt accounts somewhere independent of the actual institutions. This includes credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, and any other liabilities. As appropriate, I double-check the credit limit, balance, interest rates, minimum payments, and due dates for each account.

✅ Set up automation. I love automation, especially for things like credit monitoring and bill pay. I have it set up so that my financial institutions will notify me if there are changes in my credit. I also have credit utilization alerts and large purchase alerts. I set up auto minimum payments on a new credit card so I don’t forget to pay it. Take the time to set up alerts and automations to make the systems available to you work for you.

✅ Updated and monitored travel rewards. This isn’t for everyone, but I have found decent success in leveraging travel rewards to make vacations happen.