Check your credit report and scores

Have you ever checked your credit report?

You'd be surprised what might be on there. The first time I checked mine, I found all kinds of errors. Credit cards that didn't belong to me. Incorrect names and addresses. And lots of other errors.

You can get your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and Transunion) for free, no strings attached, according to U.S. law. Be sure not to sign up for any other services when you request your reports.

An even better idea is to get one of the reports every four months. For instance, get the Equifax report in January, the Experian report in May, and the TransUnion report in September. That way, you'll be able to catch any errors quickly.

Once you have your report, what should you do? Minor errors, like misspelled names, can be fixed via the credit bureau's website. But for larger errors, like someone else's information on your report, should be handled in writing. Write a letter to the credit bureau asking for the change and mail it, return receipt requested, to the credit bureau. You may have to do this several times before you can get incorrect information removed from your report.

So now that you've checked your credit report, you might also want to know what your credit scores are. Your score is very important - decisions on whether to loan money to you are often made simply on the basis of having a high score. And even if you're not planning to borrow money ever again, potential employers can also check your score to decide whether to hire you or not.

Well, the law that mandated that consumers be able to get their reports for free did not also say that consumers can get their scores for free. You can get your score directly from each of the credit bureaus, but you will be charged for the service.

However, there's another way you can get your free credit score: via freescore.com.

Here's what you can get by signing up for a free trial at freescore.com:

Free, unlimited access to your credit scores from each of the credit bureaus
24/7 credit monitoring: Freescore.com will watch for unexpected activity in your reports, which might signal fraudulent activities and/or identity theft
Credit alerts: You'll be notified on any unexpected changes in any of your reports.
If you are the victim of identity theft, Freescore will consult with you and help you restore your credit.