What is my credit score is a question that should be asked at least twice per year.
This 3 digit number ranges from 350 to 800.
Because it is so important to the financial well being of most families, the monitoring and evaluation of this number needs to be done.
The problem is that most people don't know where or how to look.
The entire process is relatively simple; with the advent of the internet, it can be done entirely electronically.
There are 3 credit bureaus that help to determine a person's credit score.
In order they are: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
Each of them offer essentially the same type of service, but it is the average score from all 3 reporting bureaus that make up the credit score of an individual.
The bureaus all offer a free report available once a year that will give a detailed breakdown of how the score was calculated.
Many factors go into factoring this number.
The most important of which is the timing of payments made.
If there are any late ones in the past year, these go a long way towards lowering the number.
Probably the easiest way to increase the credit score number is to make sure that any and all payments occur on time.
Up to 35% of the total is factored from this process.
Another almost equally important piece of this puzzle is the debt level.
It is 30% of the sum total and is the amount of money that is owed.
By keeping this figure well below the limits, an account holder can also raise their credit score.
The other factors that are used to calculate this number are length of credit history, inquiries and mix of credit.
Each of them is an important element in this mix, but not so much as the first two.
Still, it is important in order to understand this calculation in order to determine what can be done to raise it to the maximum possible.