Knowing Your Credit Score Can Save You

This is a day and age where your credit means everything. It means the difference between getting or not getting the house you’ve always wanted to own, the car you need to get around, and the extra things in life that make it pleasant and enjoyable. Your credit score is vital to your financial future, and not knowing what’s on there is dangerous because if you don’t know something is creating a blemish on your record that might be the difference between getting an important loan and not getting it, how are you going to be able to take care of it?

I have the perfect example actually. Before I got my free credit report for the first time, I had no idea that there was an outstanding bill that was out there for a Dr. appointment I had about seven years ago. I had moved after the bill came to my old address you see, and I had no idea that this bill was still outstanding because the bill was never forwarded to my new address, even thought I had filled out the forwarding paperwork at the post office.

Naturally, when I saw that, I called and had it paid and taken care of right away, but before I had learned that you could get free credit scores, I didn’t have any way of knowing that creditors were looking at this blemish as a negative aspect of my competency to pay them back in the event they were to extend credit to me. I had purchased a car prior to this, and perhaps I could have gotten a better interest rate if I had known about what was showing on my credit report, good and bad, before I settled the loan.

You see, not only does your credit history determine whether lenders will even consider loaning sums of money to you for purchases big and small, but it also almost always plays a huge determining role in what kind of terms you get on your loan. This means what kind of annual percentage rate they are going to give you as a “fee” for them lending you money, also known as your interest rate. Do you know how many thousands of dollars you can potentially save in interest on a mortgage loan or even any other standard installment loan by simply having stellar credit and a clean history?

It’s mind boggling actually, and it only hammers home the important of keeping up with what your credit history is and if there are any items on there that could be seriously hampering your chances at getting great APR’s from lenders. Not only that, but of getting a loan at all to be honest. Many creditors in this day and age are (understandably) getting more and more stringent about their terms of acceptance, and the bar is being raised on the important of a good credit score.

I guess you live and you learn though, I was younger then and have since been schooled in the financial importance of your credit history. You could have all the cash in the world, and your credit would still be important. You can’t open a business, buy a high ticket item, or sometimes even get a credit card with a high limit and low interest rate without having at least good credit, and if you don’t have the tools to attain that by getting your free credit score, then you understandably will not take care of the items that are creating a bleak outlook for your credit worthiness to lenders in a timely fashion so you can repair your record and get on the road to extreme creditworthiness.