Inspir.es

Warning: Big People Advice to Follow

I did my free annual credit report late last week. Of course I paid $7.95 because I wanted to know my actual credit score, damn you Equifax!

If you haven’t checked your credit in a while, you should. It allows you to double check your history and make sure everything is accurate (and correct what isn’t). It also gives you an education on how your financial decisions affect your credit.

Here are a few tips I gained in the process:

1. It’s easy, so if you haven’t done it, do it! Go to www.annualcreditreport.com and it’ll take you 10 minutes total.

2. Because there are three major credit agencies, you can actually get a free report every four months (once a year for each agency).

3. Get out your calendar and write on it four months from now and eight months from now so you’ll remember to check your credit report.

4. Next, I learned in doing research that there is an opt out number for pre-screened credit offers for insurance or credit cards. What does this mean? It tells the big credit agencies that you don’t want them to include your name on the lists they give to credit card companies and insurance companies. This means you will receive less bulk mail and have fewer companies accessing your credit report before sending you an offer. I called 1-888-567-8688 and it took me about 5 mintes. They have to mail you something for confirmation but that can’t be too hard, eh?

5. Lastly, inspired by my previous efforts, I looked into removing myself from direct mailing lists. If you head to this website they have an opt out list similar to the Federal Do Not Call Registry, but for mail. It took about 5 minutes once again, and this one required a credit card (for verification purposes only).

Voila. Now you’ve saved a few trees and surely a few trips for your friendly postal worker.