Curious about your credit score? You can get a close approximation of your score through some bank and credit card websites or through the credit reports bureaus Quizzle, Credit Karma or Credit Sesame. These are all free to see an approximation of your credit score. #JillRussoFoster #FinancialLiteracyMonth
Financial Literacy Month #3
When was the last time you viewed your credit report? Check out your free report at www.AnnualCreditReport.com today. According to the Federal Trade Commission, 1 in 5 people have an error on one or more their reports. Errors can make a difference on getting approved or declined for credit requests and what interest rate you are offered. #JillRussoFoster #FinancialLiteracyMonth
Credit FAQ’s
Whenever I do a workshop I am always asked about credit. I have taken some of the most frequently asked questions and compiled them into this issue of my newsletter.
Why did the creditor close my credit card? I didn’t own them anything. Creditor will sometimes close your credit card account if you don’t use it. If you want to have this credit card available to you, then make a purchase a few times a year to keep the account active.
My pay date and my credit card payment don’t coincide, what can I do? You can call your credit card company and ask them to move your credit card due date to another date that works with your finances.
How to I get a copy of my credit report? You have three credit reporting agencies – Experian, EquiFax and Trans Union. You are entitled to one credit report from each of the three reporting agencies once every 365 days. My suggestion is to order one credit report every four months to see your credit report three times in a year. If you sign up for this newsletter, you will receive a credit report reminder to order your credit report three times during the year.
How do I see my credit score? Your credit score if not a part of your credit report. You can get a close approximation of your FICO score at Credit Sesame, Credit Karma or Quizzle (the scoring part of the three credit reporting agencies). If you have a major credit card, most of them offer you your free credit score.
How do I know which credit card is right for me? That’s a hard thing to answer without knowing your circumstances, but I will give you some ideas for you to select which one is right for you. First thing to think about is how you will use this credit card. Will you use it and pay the balance in full each and every month. If so, then you want a credit card without any fees, because you won’t be paying any interest. If you are planning on financing purchases with multiple payments, then you want to lowest interest rate credit card possible, to pay less in interest.
My friend was declined for credit and wants me to co-sign for him / her. Should I? You need to think about this carefully. When you co-sign for someone, you are saying that you will be responsible for the payment, if the borrower doesn’t make the payment. In addition, how they pay their credit back will reflect on your credit report. So if they make a late payment, it will appear on your credit too. Make your choice wisely.
What’s the difference between a joint credit card and an authorized user credit card? Joint credit is exactly what it says, all parties apply for the credit card with their individual information are liable for what is charged (regardless of who made the charge). An authorized user is a person that you give a credit card to for them to use, but they are not responsible for the charges on the account.
What credit questions can I answer for you?
Financial Literacy Month – Tip #12
Order Your Credit Report
Here’s the tip from July 1 -Credit month:
Today, I want you to order your credit report for FREE from Annual Credit Report. You can do this online and print the report right away, call to order your report or download the form and order it by mail.
877-322-8778
P O Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281s
Remember this is the only FREE service to get your credit report. Don’t be fooled by others offering you free credit reports if you sign up for something that requires you to pay for something else.
If you do this online, be prepared to answer security questions about your credit history. Each credit reporting agency will ask you several questions that you must answer correctly to be able to get the report online. If you think you will not know the details of you credit, then order your report by phone or mail and you will be receiving the report in about two weeks.
You are entitled to one FREE credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies once every twelve months. I suggest that you only order ONE credit report from one of the credit reporting agencies today. Then in four months, order another credit report from the second credit reporting agency. Then again, in another four months order the third credit reporting agency. This way you are seeing your credit report three times per year at no cost to you. Go to the Appendix for this date and mark your calendars.
To purchase a copy of either of my books Thrive In Five: Take Charge of Your Finances in 5 Minutes a Day or 111 Ways To Save
#JillRussoFoster #30WaysToSave
Your first credit report of 2020
This month use Experian
Hello, it’s Jill again, reminding you to get your finances in order so you can start the new years off right.
How to Order Your Credit Report
The only authorized source for your report is AnnualCreditReport.com. You won’t be charged and they won’t force you to sign up for “credit monitoring”. It’s yours to review by law. Learn more.
Visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com:
- Select your state, then click Request Report.
- Fill out your information, then click Continue.
- When it asks you to select a service, select Experian.
Not comfortable ordering online? There are other ways to order your report:
- Mail your postal order by downloading the form at AnnualCreditReport.com
- Call in your order at
1-877-322-8228
1-877-322-8228What should you do with your report?
- Review it for accuracy!
- Follow the instructions to correct any errors.
- And, always remember to keep copies for your records.
Were you hoping for your credit score instead? Try CreditKarma.com. It doesn’t give you a FICO score, but it comes close. And, there’s no charge for you. CreditKarma funds their service through website advertising.
P.S. I’ll send you another reminder in April for your next report of the year.
In One More Day
You have heard about all the security breaches – from major retail chain stores to credit bureaus and 
more. You can’t turn on the news or read a newspaper without learning about another breach.
Because of this, I have always encouraged you to freeze your credit to lessen your changes of identity theft. Well tomorrow is a big day for consumers. Credit report freezes will become free – no more small fee to freeze your credit and another small fee to unfreeze – all this adds up. As of tomorrow, September 21, 2018 and just after the one year anniversary of the Equifax breach, there will be no cost to freeze your credit.
Please remember that you will receive a PIN with your freeze. You will need to keep this in a safe place, but not so safe that you forget where you put it to unfreeze your credit.
In addition, fraud alerts will now be available for 1 year (it was 90 days in the past).
Get out there and take advantage of the free credit freeze tomorrow!
Is A credit Freeze Right For You?
Here is Connecticut we have been experiencing a heat wave (although the weekend was great), we have another 90+ days 
ahead!
So in an effort to stay cool, let’s take about credit freezes. Have you done this?
If you don’t plan on needing credit in the near future, you may want to consider this. A credit freeze is one way to help protect your identity from being stolen. You freeze your credit reports (yes, all three credit reports), so that no one can access your credit report (not even you) to open new accounts.
The reason why I say not needing your credit in the near future, is because there is a cost to freezing and unfreezing your credit report. So if you have plans to open a new credit card, finance the purchase of a car, buy or refinance a home in the near future, this could be costly.
Here is a great article from AARP walking you through the steps of a credit freeze.
Your Credit Report
In my last post, I suggested that you consider freezing your credit. Another option would be credit monitoring. I personally am not a fan of paying for a serv
ice that you can do yourself for free. This is how you do this yourself.
You can review your credit three times per year for FREE! The Credit Card Act of 2010 lets you have a free credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies once every 365 days. I suggest that instead of you accessing your credit report once a year, that you access your credit report three separate times in a year and do this yourself.
We make that easy for you. If you subscribe to this newsletter, Money Choices (www.JillRussoFoster.com) you will receive a reminder email three times per year to access your credit report. This will not be posted on social media, you will have to subscribe to Money Choices to get this reminder. Do this today, as your next reminder is coming in a few weeks. You can then see what is happening on your credit report and catch any suspicious activity. Sign up today!
Have You Done This Yet?
What are you waiting for?
With the EquiFax breach and so many more, this is what you should do. Jean Chatsky’s tips for freezing your credit. Do this today!
Sing up for my newsletter, Money Choices and you will receive reminders three times per year to order your free credit report.
Did your credit score go up this past weekend?
In the past, you may have reviewed your credit score and found someone else’s information on your report?
With this new change, credit reporting agencies will be using a new three point (name, address, social security or date of birth) check system before adding liens and judgements to someone’s credit report. Hopefully, this will stop some information from appearing on the wring person’s credit report, thus lowering the credit score.
As of July 1, you may see liens and/or judgements that are not yours removed from your credit and therefore your credit score will go up. It’s estimated that 10 to 12 million consumers will see their credit scores rise by 10 to 40 points this past weekend.
Bottomline, you need to stay on top of your credit reports and check them regularly. Do you want to be reminded to check one of your credit report every four months, then sign up for my newsletter Money Choices and you will receive a reminder three times per year to help you stay on top of your credit report. www.JillRussoFoster.com