In this world there surely must be others like me: people without credit cards and some questionable credit history. Because I owned nothing and only made payments on student loans, I was sure I didn’t have any credit, or rather, I was sure I didn’t have any good credit. You see, there are some disputed credit issues in my past (disagreements with certain unnamed companies), and I thought for sure those were lingering over my head. I was curious just how bad my credit was.
So, I clicked a link on LoanShrimp.com (over in the sidebar) and went to creditreport.com. It wasn’t hard to do.
1. One thing of note–you need some information. I had just moved and opened a new bank account, so I needed some other information to confirm who I was. They need a name, address, email address, phone number, and then the usual social security number and date of birth. Also, you need a credit card. If you don’t have one (like me), that’s ok. I used my bank’s debit card. They just needs something to verify that your account is active. You will not be charged money for this report–only for further services.
2. Verify who you are. To make sure you are who you are, they will send you through a series of questions. Honestly, these were easy for me. I have visited other free credit report sites that ask some hard ones (things I’ve owned in the past 3 years with a few trick questions I think), but this site worked out for me. I made it through, so you should as well.
3. View your Report. Your report consists of various credit report agencies and any payment/mispayment history. Sure enough, my disagreement showed up on my report. But I also had on-time payments for the past 12 months on my student loans. This is a good way to see where you may be lacking, and they even give you contact information if you need to rectify some credit issues. Not a bad service for free.
(Note: They will try to sell you ongoing credit services. Simply opt out of these services, so everything will remain free, or if you like the idea of someone monitoring your credit activity, by all means, sign up.)
I don’t have no credit. (I am fully aware of the poor grammatical structure.) I didn’t even have bad credit. Surprisingly, I had a credit rating in the upper 600 range, which qualifies me for a lot of loans and credit cards. Don’t worry–I’m not going to rush out and load myself up with monthly payments, but it is comforting to know I’m not in negative credit land (if such a thing were possible).
It’s easy. It’s helpful. It lets you know where you stand in the greater financial world. A free credit report. For most of us there is this lurking hulk of information that controls our buying/spending, and we don’t even know what it is. Check it out in the sidebar at loanshrimp.com.
Next step…Applying for a credit card.
