Now is a good time to do an annual check of your credit report. Everyone has a file with the 3 main credit bureaus – TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. It’s important to check these reports periodically because the data retained by each credit bureau affects your credit scores. These, in turn, determine the interest rate you receive on credit cards, your mortgage loan rate, auto loan, etc.

You are eligible to receive one free report each year from each of these 3 credit bureaus so you may want to stagger this eligibility by ordering a report from each of the bureaus every four months. To order your free report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com.