Hello all. Something we tell people all the time is how incredibly important it is that they become familiar with their credit reports. And as they begin to do so, they discover there is a lot they want to change on them. They want to see how their balances change, they are trying to get derogs removed, etc. -- and so they benefit hugely from being able to pull their credit reports frequently. Maybe not every day, but far more often than the once a year permitted by Annual CreditReport.com.
At the same time, many people are limited on cash, so they need (ideally) a cost-free service that will let them to do this. Obviously the one that comes to mind first is Credit Karma, since it is free and lets them pull Equifax and TransUnion reports as often as once a week.
But what do we tell people to do about Experian? (Scroll down to the bulleted list at the end of the post for the ones I can think of.)
I am curious to hear any strategies people here can think of, with a strong tilt towards solutions that would cost the person nothing or next to nothing. Here is the advice I have come up with, but I really would like to improve it. It's advice targeted toward a person who is somewhat new to credit reports and who wants to spend as little as possible.
First start with Karma. Spend a couple months getting deeply acquanted with your TU and EQ reports and what they mean. Compare the two reports and see if they differ, identify problem areas, see when your accounts are reporting, watch how the balances change, etc.
When you really understand the TU and EQ reports, pull your Experian report. You can do it for free at annualcreditreport.com -- but only once a year. Compare it closely with the TU and EQ reports to see if it says something different on it.
Moving forward, if you need to save yourself money, you can use Karma as your main tool for pulling free reports. Here some additional ways you can take a look at the Experian data at little cost to yourself:
* The state you live in may give you the right to pull additional reports. For example Georgia residents get two free reports beyond the one at annualcredit report.com. (Total of three a year.)
* Experian Credit Tracker will give you your report and score for only $1 -- just be sure to cancel the service in the next 5-6 days to avoid being charged fees. Question for readers here: how often can a person benefit from the trial offer? E.g. can they do this (say) three times a year?
* You can buy additional reports from Experian at a low price. If you really need 1-2 extra EX reports a year, this can be a fairly low cost solution. The cost depends on the state you live in.
* Credit.com is a free monitoring service that draws on the Experian data. It won't give you the true reports, but it does give you a summary of what is in it. If you have already seen the true full-blown report, and you are viewing EQ and TU with Karma, this summary may be enough much of the time.
* myFICO.com and Credit Check Total are both services that will give you an EX report (along with other great stuff). Just bear in mind that you may need to cancel if you don't want to pay for it every month, and bear in mind that the first month does cost you.
