Smart and Free Credit Monitoring

If you were offered three pieces of candy, would you eat them all at once or would you eat one now and the other two later? You can probably guess what the responsible thing to do is - eat a little bit at a time.

Viewing your credit report should be thought of in the same way. You receive a free credit report from each of the reporting agencies once per year. You don't have to get all three credit reports at one time. You can request your credit report at different times of the year for each credit agency.

For smart and free credit monitoring, follow this plan:

Start by always accessing your credit report through AnnualCreditReport.com. This is the government sponsored site that allows you to get your free credit reports.

Plan on checking your Equifax credit report every January. Do this by setting a calendar reminder on your phone or in your email program. If you don't have a way to set a reminder, you can click on this link to use FollowUpThen.com's free web service.

Check your TransUnion credit report every May. Do this by setting a calendar reminder on your phone or in your email program. If you don't have a way to set a reminder, you can click on this link to use FollowUpThen.com's free web service.

Check your Experian credit report every September. Do this by setting a calendar reminder on your phone or in your email program. If you don't have a way to set a reminder, you can click on this link to use FollowUpThen.com's free web service.