0 How your credit score affects your life

A lot of people might think that only those who are trying to buy cars or homes or obtain loans and credit cards need to care about their credit score and report; but those people might just be in for lots of trouble.

So what exactly is your credit score? - Your credit score is a three digit number that represents your "creditworthiness", in other words, your ability to pay back your debts. Your credit report contains records of all your "borrowing" (credit cards, loans, etc) and repayment history. It contains information about your loans, when you took them, when you re-payed them, current balances, and how frequent you are with payments. Your credit report will also contain personal information like your name, Social Security Number, your date of birth, current and recent addresses, and current and previous employers.

• There are three agencies that gather your information and summarize it into your report, these three agencies are Equifax, Trans Union and Experian.

why is it important? - To understand why your credit score and report are important you should first understand who will be looking at your credit report. Generally, your credit report will be viewed by insurance companies, potential lenders, landlords and employers (however, when a potential employer receives your verified credit report it probably will not include your credit rating or score, or any indication of how good or bad your credit is, instead what they will receive is a credit history based upon information found using public records, usually this includes issues like prior bankruptcies, payment history, and tax liens.) Your credit report will help them decide whether to approve your application for a credit card or loan, housing or job, or even to offer you a service or product at a lower or dropped rate. For great instance, people with higher credit scores might pay less interest on cars. Knowing this, you should also know that 1/3 of all credit reports have some sort of error on them and this is why it is important to obtain a copy of your credit report from all three credit-reporting agencies at least once each year.

•  Credit scores range from 300-850 and the average score today is 678. Scores over 700 will usually qualify someone for interest rates and terms while scores in the low 600’s and below usually face higher interest rates, so those with scores over 760 usually obtain the best terms and rates.

Being a mother makes me even more cautious about my credit score and keeping track of my report, and it's really easy to do because you can go online to find your free credit score.  Always keep in mind that your credit history is  an indication of how you handle credit responsibilities, and those who look into your credit history might use it as insight to your character and your ability to manage your own lifestyle.

Keeping up with your credit score can be exceptionally easy with FreeScore! I hope this was informational and helpful for everyone!