How long should I wait before checking out my scores again?

[AnaMKMK]

I've checked with each credit card company, they all say they report at the end of the month.... I'm kinda anxious, but don't want to blow $50! Thanks...

[marty56]

Score Watch will monitor changes to your EQ report and its $9 month.  If you see anything  significant in the alerts that it generates, you could then pull your reports if desired.  That is what I am doing.

[Anonymous]

Scorewatch doesn't really update as frequently as one would like.  You probably get an update about once every two weeks.  Do the free trial and see if you like I.  I would not recommend it.  Then again, I'm obsessed and check daily for updates but have little or no luck even after opening new credit.  It doesn't change when things are removed.  Also, you don't always get updates.  I've pulled my report and it was different but didn't get notified from myfico.

[majesty]

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bluebananas5 wrote:

Scorewatch doesn't really update as frequently as one would like.  You probably get an update about once every two weeks.  Do the free trial and see if you like I.  I would not recommend it.  Then again, I'm obsessed and check daily for updates but have little or no luck even after opening new credit.  It doesn't change when things are removed.  Also, you don't always get updates.  I've pulled my report and it was different but didn't get notified from myfico.

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Agree.... I have scorewatch and have pulled my EQ report to find major changes that were NOT emailed to me.. I keep it as it does discount EQ FICO pulls and provides decent service. I also have TC and it still works very well for me

[haulingthescoreup]

It is for this situation that people subscribe to 3-in-1 monitoring service that allow daily report pulls, like TrueCredit. TC has some software bugs that results in it banning some subscribers, but until that happens, it's a very useful service. (I expect to be banned any day now.)

Not only do you have to wait for each lender to report, you then have to wait for each CRA to post the new balances. This makes me crazy, because in my case, EX posts within 24 hours, TU a day or 2 later, and EQ up to a week later. I've wasted a couple of score pulls by pulling before all three bureaus were reporting --grrr.

One pretty affordable solution is Equifax's Credit Watch Gold. For $8.95/ month, you get daily (if you want them) pulls of a full EQ report (including soft inqs.) If EQ tends to be the last to post for you, as it is for me, you could cross your fingers and assume that if the new balance is showing on EQ, it's showing on the others, and you could buy your scores. Bit of a gamble, but it's one option.

[smallfry]

OP lose the need for frequent pulling. Not worth the money. Maybe in special situations but to be honest a couple times a year should suffice. You'll find out soon enough.

[haulingthescoreup]

Eh, I disagree. Sounds like OP has been doing some work on her reports in hopes of seeing improvement. Sometimes you need a prize to keep you motivated.

Don't need to go crazy, though... (Been there, done that, although I'm still glad I did!) OP, please don't think that you should be pulling anywhere as often as my sig line indicates. I had some unusual situations going on, and the frequent pulls made sense in that context.

[AnaMKMK]

I've averaged about 5 pulls a month for the last 4 months!! I'm starting to get **bleep** about this. I've held myself back from pulling all 3 each and every single time, but when I see my Equifax go up 15 points in the two weeks since my last pull, I want to pull TU and Experian. Although my Experian score is driving me nuts its wayyy below the other two.

But doing the math.... I think i've spent a little less than $200 on my FICO scores in the last few months....not counting the monitoring services i'm signed up for.

[AnaMKMK]

ok umm... a n a l as a word is bleeped out? I guess it is a four letter word....

[haulingthescoreup]

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@AnaMKMK wrote:

ok umm... a n a l as a word is bleeped out? I guess it is a four letter word....

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I got bleeped for that once, too. Once we got seriously off-topic here about American literature, and that's when we found that Herman Melville's great classic novel had to be referred to as "Moby Richard" on these boards...

Have you checked out TrueCredit or another 3-in-1 service yet? Seriously, for the cost of pulling 3 FICO's, even with a discount, you would pay for 3 months of daily access to all three credit reports. Remember that the scores they give are total bull, but if you get an alert from ScoreWatch, you can look at your credit reports, see if the change shows on all 3 reports, and then decided whether to pull scores then and there, or decide to wait a bit longer. I once added up what I've paid also, and I was horrified, but I tell myself that I've wasted that much on dumb purchases on other stuff, and at least this is helping me. (That's what I tell myself! )

BTW, over the last two weeks, EQ now posts first, then TU, and EX is over a week late. Go figure.