If those commercials for freecreditreport.com have ever sent you running to your computer to order the free annual report that the government says you are entitled to, back the truck up! The reports may not be so free after all! As a result of an FTC ruling in 2004, consumers are entitled to a free report from each from the three major credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and Transunion – each year. Since that time, numerous companies have emerged to supposedly offer the report. FreeCreditReport.com which pulls in customers with amusing commercials, as well as others companies, offers a report but requires you to sign up for a service that may cost $15 or more per month. This includes credit monitoring, potentially a good thing – as long you know what you are getting into. This and other similar sites offer a small window for ordering your report and then being able to cancel without charge. Though FreeCreditReport.com appears to be a reputable company, others may be scam sites that only want your personal information. The site that offers the truly free reports is AnnualCreditReport.com.  Consumers can check all three bureaus at once or stagger the requests over the course of the year to see progress. There is usually some variation among the three bureaus, so ordering from all three each year might be wise. The only report guaranteed to be free with no strings attached is the official AnnualCreditReport.com site. Once you go to AnnualCreditReport.com, you must choose which…
free credit report
How Bad Credit Costs You
As anyone who has watched silly commercials about people with poor credit being doomed to drive hoopties or make their living in costume at a Renaissance fair knows, a bad credit score costs you! You may be denied the card you want, a gas card, a job, or an apartment plus embarrassment, with or without costume. If your credit score is low and you want to buy a home, how much will those credit-card funded dinners and shoes of the past cost you? The results are amazing. According to Credit Technologies, who spoke at a recent National Association of Mortgage Brokers seminar, the difference between having a credit score over 720 vs. 620 is an interest rate of 5% versus one of 8.75%. As the chart shows, a differing interest rate on a 30 year mortgage can have a big impact on the payments for a $125,000 mortgage, including taxes. Credit Score ARP Interest over loan term Total Amount Paid Monthly payment 760-850 5% $127,715.56 $307,194.73 $853.32 700-759 5.5% 141,2338.38 $321,130.05 $890.03 680-699 6% $155,318.57 $335,422.74 $931.73 660-679 6.5% $169,638.94 $350,055.61 $972.38 640-659 7% $184,229.87 $365,011.12 $1,013.92 620-639 7.5% $199,177.78 $380,271.53 $1,056.31 600-619 8% $214,412.81 $395,819.06 $1,099.50 580-599 8.5% $229,917.32 $411,636.07 $1,143.43 550-579 9.0% $245,621.84 $427,705.18 $1,188.07 500-549 9.5% $261,613.56 $444,009.39 $1,233.36 If your household income is about $35,000 a year, a house with $125,000 mortgage might put your monthly cost for a house at about 25%, so a payment of $853.32 might be just about right. If your…